Pusha T On EDM: "If Hip-Hop Artists Are Smart, They'll Do It"

Traditional barriers that have existed for decades between genres like hip-hop, rock, country and electronic music—which were originally scarcely breached—are starting to come down. A new wave of artists are coming up ignoring the traditional boundaries that have existed for years and fusing together different sounds and styles. One of the artists doing that is Pusha T, who has been recently working with a variety of different EDM acts like Tiga, Axwell / Ingrosso, Major Lazer, Yogi and more. He recently spoke to Billboard about his attempt to bridge the gap between EDM and hip-hop and why other hip-hop artists should smarten up and do it.

The former Clipse member explains how he got interested in EDM as someone who has been touring for quite some time.

"I've been going to Europe for some time on the festival circuit, and once you get in that element and see others reacting to it, it's easier to understand. You get trapped in the wave. The beats are driving and super-aggressive -- like, so hard. I was curious," he said.

He is not the first hip-hop artists to make the move to work with electronic artists. Others like A$AP Rocky, Kanye West, Childish Gambino, Lupe Fiasco, Waka Flocka Flame and Diddy have all hopped on the EDM-train in the past few years to varying levels of success. Pusha appears to be taking one step further with a litany of different collaborations as the "go-to" hip-hop guy for electronic music producers. He thinks others should do the same.

"If hip-hop artists are smart, they'll do it. It's such a broad audience, and the energy in those crowds is second to none. I've learned so much about performance watching these guys. It's an art. I was one of the first hip-hop acts to perform at Ultra, and that experience made me realize I had to step up my game to perform on the same stage as these guys, to keep up with that level of production. Some of the greatest hip-hop artists have incorporated elements from electronic shows into their setup. People are taking notice. It's going to be a new wave."

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