Are the roots of rave culture getting lost?
It’s been around 40 years since the birth of modern day dance music culture. In that time it has been through a myriad of iterations and shifts. Today, the pervasive influence of social media seems to be taking it away from its roots.
New generations often view it differently, with less appreciation for the past.
While we can’t (and shouldn’t) stay in the past, there are some things that should be upheld.
Here’s how the roots of rave culture are being lost…
MORE FOCUS ON LOOKING COOL
There’s a difference between wanting to look good, and wanting to look cool. Having standards is totally fine. But when you’re dressing, or behaving, for validation from others
or “cool points”, something is amiss. In fact, a lot of the outliers at the earliest events were trying to get away from the “cool kids”.
RAVES ARE NOW SOCIAL CURRENCY
The notion of filming yourself in a club or at a festival to elevate your social status is
the antithesis of the culture’s roots. It’s a modern phenomenon that commodifies and cheapens what this whole thing is about. Being present and in the moment is what it’s about.
INCLUSIVITY IS BEING ERODED
What used to be a refuge for people who were different – lower economic class and/or marginalised – has started to become inaccessible due mostly to prices going up and up. When raves are only affordable for wealthy people, inclusivity goes out of the window.
IT’S BECOME BIG BUSINESS
While money has always been there, and nothing would work without some kind of business model in place, big business muscling in has eroded some of the culture’s core values.
Just look at the murky connections and monopolisation that has been occurring through corporate buyouts of clubs and festivals in recent years.
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