DJ DIARIES: The Rise of EDM

By Amber Cavazos

Electronic dance music (EDM) has become increasingly popular within this past decade. This is why you probably hear quite a few EDM songs when you turn on the radio now.

Many EDM festivals, like EDC and Electric Forest, have also seen a huge rise in their ticket sales over the recent years. Other festivals, such as Coachella and Lollapalooza, have also been incorporating more EDM artists in their lineups just to satisfy more people despite not being known for their dance music.

EDM has gone through various stages to finally become what you know recognize as electronic music. It was influenced by 1960’s rock and funk, but it really started to come together in the 70’s thanks to all of the experimentation that was going on (music experimenting, that is).

The tubular 80’s was when EDM took off and made it big. Artists like Michael Jackson and Depeche Mode played with the mainstream appeal of that dancing beat and made history for the genre.

There are now a ton of artists that dabble in the EDM space, but not many of them make it big. One artist that’s on his way to success though is Don Dirty. He also goes by DJ 4KO when performing with Famous DJ Agency.

Don Dirty, also known as DJ 4KO, specializes in EDM. Photo by Inner Eye Photography

Don Dirty performed at Inovativ Event’s Nova Fest on October 13. Nova Fest is a “Mini Festival style show” and was held at Uptown Bar and Grill in Long Beach.

The newest Inovativ festival featured three stages, not including the exclusive fourth VIP stage, and over 28 of Southern California’s most prominent rising artists.

If you were among the unlucky souls that missed this event, I will fill you in because I really can’t stop raving about how fun it was.

The festival was Halloween themed since it was on Friday the 13th. Each stage had its own theme too, which was amazing to see, especially for a smaller festival.

The main stage had a huge LED screen which added to the ambiance of the event. I almost forgot that I was in Long Beach for a second.

Don Dirty took the stage at around 10PM and the crowd went crazy. I might be a tad bit biased, but I honestly enjoyed Don Dirty’s set the most. It was evident that he put a lot of time and effort in his set and I would not expect anything less from one of Famous DJ Agency’s more exclusive DJs.