After finding his groove in dubstep, EDM DJ and producer Borgore challenged himself – and his listeners – with his new EP, and he tells HL how this new sound allows him to have more ‘personality’ in his art.
Do you think you know Borgore? Really? The DJ and producer – who racked up streams and fans with songs like “Decisions” (with Miley Cyrus), “Forbes” (with G-Eazy), “Unicorn Zombie Apocalypse (with SIKDOPE), and “Wild Out” (with Waka Flocka Flame and Paige) – has built up a reputation and a following since he first burst out on the scene in the 2010s. Now, a decade later, he sent all preconceived notions about him to the Slaughterhouse with his new EP, and it’s not going to get gory. It’s going to get sexy – as in his new song, “Sexy Boi.”
“I think “Sexy Boi’ is the fine line between what people define as a classic Borgore sound, the heavy messing around with vocals,” he tells HollywoodLife, “and that new sound this EP is striving to lean towards, the more housey and fun vibes.” Fun is indeed at the heart of the new song. “Sexy Boi” prowls around that house frequency, cruising for someone to dance with, while some of the trademarks of dubstep dart in and out. With “Sexy Boi,” Borgore delivers a dirty and sweaty groove that will make anyone want to get on the dance floor.
What prompted Borgore to take his sound in a new direction towards house? Borgore says that while he really loves dubstep, electronic music in America “went from everyone talking about it and being the focus of attention in the music world to this one genre, dubstep,” he says in an EXCLUSIVE interview. “I just feel like house gives me personality, that feeling I had when I wrote “Incredible,” when I realized that everything is about to explode because I have the capability of writing a record I actually enjoy writing that now has a huge crowd potential.”
That potential will be realized on Slaughterhouse, Borgore EP (out today, Dec. 3). Though horror and filth and sex and glamour have always been a part of his aesthetic, Borgore tells HollywoodLife the inspiration behind the EP’s title. He also dishes on why “sometimes I wish I could just press stop for a little bit and just go back to making music for myself,” and how his heartbreak was …with the WWF? Really.
(Cybele Malinowski)HollywoodLife: “Sexy Boi” is the latest cut from your upcoming EP. This new project promises to show you playing with different sounds that fans wouldn’t expect from Borgore. How does “Sexy Boi” fit into that plan?
Borgore: I think “Sexy Boi is “the fine line between what people define as a classic Borgore sound, the heavy messing around with vocals, and that new sound this EP is striving to lean towards, the more housy and fun vibes. I really love dubstep, which is where I started and maybe even set some of the foundation stones of the genre, but it seems like electronic music in America went from everyone talking about it and being the focus of attention in the music world to this one genre, dubstep, and it’s very specific following. It feels like house brings this new awakening and has the same vibe that big room brought in 2012/2013. It bridges the casual music fan with the die-hard electronic fan.
Growing up a pro-wrestling fan, “Sexy Boi” is associated with Shawn Michaels. I don’t think that this song is based on mid-90s WWF, so what inspired the track?
OMG! I never realized that! Maybe it’s subliminal because as a kid, I was a huge WWF fan!!! Had all the video games, shirts, went to every event they did in Israel! I even gave a reference to “Yokozuna” in my song syrup (which I felt as a kid was m arch nemesis). Shawn Michaels was really dope, but I guess my soul was dark since a young age because my favorite wrestler was always Undertaker. Anyways, I stopped following it as soon as (spoiler alert) I realized the Jewish Santa (Eliahu Hanavi who comes during Passover) was actually my parents and that wrestling in WWF was staged. My first heartbreak, honestly.
What inspired this shift into music beyond dubstep? Did you have a moment when you knew you needed to challenge yourself?
I think I kind of explained it in the other question. But like I said, I feel like house gives me personality, that feeling I had when I wrote “Incredible” when I realized that everything is about to explode because I have the capability of writing a record. I actually enjoy writing that now has a huge crowd potential. It’s really important for me to stay genuine with what I write. Otherwise, I feel like listeners can tell, and it’s kinda shit. So being able to be genuine in the currently popular genre is really a blessing.
(Cybele Malinowski)Why did you call your new EP ‘Slaughterhouse’? One might think you’re taking old conceptions about Borgore to the titular house.
You’re exactly right. Even when I make house, it still sounds like me. Which is great because having a signature sound is amazing, but it’s also a bit crippling because I’m sure Van Gogh could have painted some beautiful cubism art, but it wouldn’t look like the classic Braque or Picasso.
There was a moment in the “I Don’t Care” video where your animated avatar got away from the world and laid back on the top of your tour bus. When was the last time you felt that desire to get away from the world?
These references of getting away from everything have been like breadcrumbs from the very beginning of my career. I honestly love music almost to a brainwashed level. I knew how to read notes before I knew how to read letters. I spend more time trying to learn new deeper levels of music theory and the philosophy behind it than I spend DJing. It’s almost like DJing is my temporary job for college tuition. I DJ so I can do what I really love, which is music. And yea sometimes social media interviews, promotion, bad gigs (people will only show you the good ones on IG, but I promise you every DJ has some gigs that really damage them mentally) all those things are not what I signed up for when I started uploading songs I enjoyed making million years ago to the internet, and sometimes I wish I could just press stop for a little bit and just go back to making music for myself. (p.s I actually really enjoyed making this EP and can’t get myself out of the studio right now feeling incredibly inspired).
“Sexy Boi” is out now. Presave Slaughterhouse here.
