Recently i have been hearing the word “Intellignet” being used to refer to certain types of Electronica music. I have to say that i think the use of this term within the realm of any kind of music is a bunch of elitist bullshit. Especially in electronica, which to me is about a global music genre that knows no language barriers and brings people together for the sole purpose of enjoying music and dancing. To break down the term intelligent dance music I first though about what intelligence meant. To me its the ability to comprehend, think and learn. To me these descriptive words are really not something that I would want associated with music. Music is the most basic art form around. You can make music by clapping your hands, banging two sticks together or mixing CD’s and all people have to do to understand it is use those things on either side of their head. To say that your music is intelligent would imply to me that I just wouldn’t understand it or have to actively work to understand and appreciate it and i honestly find that somewhat offensive. As much as i enjoy activley listening to music if artists started calling their music intelligent punk or intelligent i dont think i’d take them seriously, i’d most likely just say, i dont care how smart you think your music is, play something that sounds cool. I also think the term intellignet is a majority of the time misused. I’ve heard the term Intelligent used to describe several genres of music such as minimal, downtempo and any other music that in my opinion lacks energy, the ability to engage listeners with ease and pretty much anyone that’s “not spinning stuff from beatport” or have trouble classifying what they spin. Also when you can use the same term to describe Drum & Bass and Minimal i think that give the term just a little to much flexibility. The term “intelligent” in dance music is used the same way that “alternative” is used in rock music. When people say they listen to alternative i always ask them “Alternative to what?” The same could be said for “Intelligent Dance Music.” Is all other dance music retarded? Are we retarded if we listen to it? See what im getting at? People that refer to their music by this term should really find a new word to use instead of sounding like a bunch of douchy elitist hipsters that have already ruined indie rock.
