Dubstep is a male dominated genre, no way around it. The guttural bass, the juttering synths, theres something undeniably masculine about the entire genre, and thats without taking into account lyrics. With songs like Borgore's "Act Like a Hoe" ("Act like a hoe, but first do the dishes!"), Rusko's "Cockney Thug", and most of Skream's first self titled LP even the subject matter (if there is any) finds itself in a very masculine, aggressive realm.
Given all these things its not overly surprising that their are so few female Dubstep artists getting any sort of publicity. In some ways it feels the stereotypical "female" elements of electronic music, catch based melody, upbeat tempo, etc are missing in the genre.
Introducing two of Dubsteps finest (and only) producers, Vaccine and Ikonika. Vaccine is the moniker of Christine Clemens, a Los Angeles native. Ikonika is the moniker of Sara Abdel-Hamid, a native of the UK. Both are making impressions in a male dominated scene, and both have very different styles.
Vaccine's music draws a lot of comparisons to the "cleaner", more melody driven faction of Dubstep that includes artists like Clubroot, Eleven Tigers, and Burial. Her breakbeat's aren't drowned out by bass and her tracks are characterized by ghostlike synths, giving them a haunting, organic feel. Its certainly not as rave ready as some of her genre counterparts, but Vaccine's music is earthy and emotional, evoking a lot of sounds and feelings forgotten by the bro-steppers of the world.
Ikonika has been a big name for awhile. She's signed to Dubsteps most famous label, Hyperdub, and her sound displays a lot of similar traits to that of fellow Hyperdub artists Kode9, Zomby, and Joker. What I mean by this is its old school, 120 bpm, slow, dark, almost evil in its sound. In fact Ikonika's sound could be confused for quite a number of UK producers.
Both woman aren't particularly dance floor oriented. There music should be listened to in the dark, on a late night drive, etc. Its beautiful, dark, and has a distinct style of its own.
Woman are making there way out of the woodworks and into the public conscious. Rock, Punk, there are tons of genre's that started out as purely male. Its only a matter of time until it gets infiltrated by some rad females.
Here are some sweet tracks by these two ladies.
Proxy - 68 (Vaccine Remix)
By Proxy - 68 (Vaccine remix) by Vaccine
Cubic Zirconia - Hoes Come Out at Night (Ikonika Remix)
Cubic Zirconia - Hoes Come Out At Night (Ikonika Remix) by Ikonika
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