We caught up with dubstep’s most deviant DJ after his set at Electric Forest to chat about the genre, his new song, and of course, girls. While some of what Israel-born Borgore said fit into his Grey Goose-guzzling, stripping-encouraging, hell-raising image, other responses proved there’s more to the man than his self-awarded title as the ruiner of dubstep.
The set he had just finished was a knee-quaking medley that ran the gamut of electronic styles. One moment was a dubbed-out Kaskade track, another a Flux Pavilion tune, then his own remix of Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead.” Peppered throughout the set were the original tracks that gave the DJ his reputation, from the too innocently named “Ice Cream” to the more blatant “Nympho.” Top the set off with a version of “Cinema” where the gleeful DJ grabbed the mic, swapped the word “cinema” with “Cinnabon,” and pledged he “could eat you for ever,” and you understand what the Borgore experience is about.
“I just get drunk and have fun,” a sweat- and glitter-covered Borgore said with a grin after his set. Some may have surmised he had had a bit to drink after he started singing over his own lyrics during the set (and burst into song during our interview), but when asked about the “we all push play” controversy started by Deadmau5, the normally flippant DJ got serious. “Everyone today could have seen that I’m playing for real,” he said. “I’m really DJing, and I go on the mic and I’m really singing.” Of that last bit, we had no doubt.
One of the songs that dubstep’s so-called enfant terrible belted along to was his newest single, “Decisions.” With a chorus of “Decisions/yeah I want it all/so I get it all/I wanna eat the whole cake” finished off with a resounding “cause bitches love cake,” the track is a hit with the frat boys and girlfriends of frat boys that form the core of the American dubstep fan base. But for Borgore, the track is deeper than a red Solo cup.
“I think that it’s funny that people just don’t understand the real meaning behind the track,” he said. “Bitches love cake, yeah, bitches do love cake literally, but when I talk about cake, I’m talking about fame, money. When I say I want the whole cake, I’m saying I want to live the life. It’s super personal if you really listen to the words.”
As for his personal life, it may not be as raucous as his lyrics and twitter feed suggest.
“I know how to live my personal life and how to live my…it’s kind of split,” he said. To clarify what he meant, he half-jokingly said, “I’m not pointing any fingers, I haven’t done a full on investigation but I’m pretty sure that most rappers are not dealing drugs, have never killed a man and are not involved in any gangster activities. So this is their character, this is how they feel when they grab the mic, they feel like gangsters,” he explained. “When I grab the mic, I feel like all these bitches wanna lick my ice cream.”
Though the 24-year-old promised his upcoming tour will feature both pole dancers and giant cannons of ice cream shooting out shaving cream, when asked whom he would most want to tour with, the earnest answer was “Bach” – as in Johann Sebastian (we double checked).
“When I listen to his music, I just feel things I don’t feel anywhere else,” he explained. “He’s just next level when it comes to harmonies. He’s the godfather.”
While Borgore’s next full-length album (to be released around September) will likely feature the filthy lyrics and filthier drops he’s known for, he said he hopes to one day produce an album featuring real instruments, most of which the classically trained musician can play.
For now at least, he’s riding the dubstep wave. Though he thinks that not every dubstep DJ will last in the genre of the moment, he’s optimistic about his longevity. “I think that I’m special enough to stay for a second,” he said. If the adoring (and often graphic) declarations of love from his fans are any indication, he just may be right. And for all those adoring fans in Wisconsin? “Tell them I love “That ’70s Show.”
