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The Badger Herald

The Student News Site of University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Badger Herald

The Student News Site of University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Badger Herald

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12th Planet to take stage at Majestic tonight

Many have seen the people ambling down streets with their hands in the air and glow sticks on their necks. Those witnesses have seen dubstep. During the past several months, Madison has seen big-hitting bass purveyors like Rusko and Bassnectar paint the town neon. Tonight, we have another contender for glory: 12th Planet.

John Dadzie, as he’s known offstage, has been making music for more than a decade. He has come far since his early years as a youth who was too big for his britches.

“When I was 18 I told myself by the time I was 25 I should be a millionaire, but that kind of didn’t happen,” Dadzie said. “I worked at Gamestop at one point. I just decided that if I don’t do this, then I’m fucked, really. I was just chilling and DJing on the side. The drum ‘n’ bass thing picked up really well though.”

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From the ’90s and into the early ’00s, electronic music has undergone remarkable change. Dadzie has kept his tastes in tune with this progression while keeping hints of his old taste on the road to dubstep prominence.

“I come from a hardcore and drum ‘n’ bass background so it was just the logical progression. I’ve been kind of part of the third wave of drum ‘n’ bass and so that’s been [the] focus of my sound,” Dadzie said.

After years of producing drum ‘n’ bass under the moniker Infiltrata, Dadzie took hold on the explosive wave of dubstep that has been taking the nation by storm. With his change in sound came the adoption of his new alias, 12th Planet (the title of a pseudoscientific book by Zecharia Sitchin).

“I’ve been producing under the name 12th Planet since like 2006,” Dadzie said. “My crew out here [in Los Angeles] will have dubstep parties in the LA area. We’re probably one of the first five or six crews in the area who will host dubstep parties. It kind of just grew into popularity with the genre. I just kind of went with it.”

At this point in his career, Dadzie is living every aspiring house DJ’s dream. He’s worked with acts like Skrillex and approaches his music with the laid-back confidence of Lil Wayne after a healthy dose of sizzurp.

“I’m thinking about bacon, bitch, straight up,” Dadzie said, describing his attitude going into production. “I’ll experiment, just playing around with all the new toys, all the new software. Something cool happens and the light bulb comes on.”

In a town overflowing with shaking bass lines and squeaking synthesizers, it is not hard to wonder whether the explosive genre is hitting a creative wall. Dazdie sees no limits to dubstep’s creative potential.

“That’s the beautiful thing about dubstep. It’s like a melting pot of different genres,” Dadzie said. “Regardless if you like guitars or electronics, it’s going to be dubstep. With people like James Blake making it, I think it’ll just continue to draw influences from other genres and just go with the trends and last forever.”

Like alternative rock and progressive rock, Dadzie feels dubstep is building the foundation for new sounds yet to be heard by listeners.

“It’s already shown an influence in multiple different genres. I think it’s just going to become another part of music. It’s just an alternative to house music,” Dadzie said.

The audience in Madison will witness 12th Planet’s inaugural performance in the city. While he has never been here before, Dadzie is excited for a crowd of Wisconsinites who have garnered an understandable reputation.

“I’m looking forward to meeting a bunch of Badgers,” Dadzie said. “They like cheese, dubstep and beer. It’s really great coming into a college town. They’re really starting to embrace the dubstep stuff.

“Man, I wanna take some cheese and spray it all over everybody, but that’s already been done here. Just expect a lot of good tunes and old tunes, good times and beer spillage.”

12th Planet performs tonight at the Majestic Theater. Tickets are $22 at the door. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show begins at 9 p.m. Also playing: Von.

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