GQ’s Controversial Avicii Article

The dance scene’s go to scapegoat, Avicii, had to deal with yet other controversy related to his mainstream success. In a GQ article published last week, a freelance reporter was sent on the road with the “Levels” superstar and his team, criss-crossing the globe for the artist’s end-of-year stops in Mexico, Miami, Anaheim, and Vegas. Over the course of four or five days, the reporter seems to have been given incredible access to the DJ and his team, even travelling alongside the man on his private jet ride to one of his gigs. However, the internet has exploded with backlash, against both Avicii and GQ. Those bashing Avicii are furiously turned off by the impression he gave off in article – he is repeatedly quoted as calling Djing really “easy” and as disregarding reading rooms as something for irrelevant “older” DJs. Naturally, Avicii personally took to his Twitter to bash the article as being heavily “misquoted” and misrepresentative of fans and the community. Although one can argue crowds today really are full of drug-consuming frat boys, there for everything but the music, one must also remember that nothing is as simple as it seems, especially when dealing with a publication like GQ which frankly isn’t an authoritative – let alone authentic – voice in the dance scene. Although this article may serve as a perfect opportunity to hop on or keep riding on the “hate on Avicii” train, one can’t help but wonder how this article would look if the same access had been given to someone definitively knowledgeable and well-versed in electronic music and industry. Seeing as we likely won’t have access to any recorded interview tapes, the best we can do is try to weed out what we can for ourselves. Check out the controversial article here.

Written by: Brian Merlano