Midwest Music Says #MeToo. Part 1: DATSIK
**Update 7/20/20**
This article has been updated to correct grammatical errors, remove opening sentiments about Bassnectar’s efforts, signage and social activism at Spring Gathering 2018 in Chicago, IL and inform viewers that DanceSafe has since nulled their relationship with Space Jesus.
The team behind This Is Perfect Harmony LLC stands with survivors.
Thank you for your understanding.
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This is part one of a two-part story about how the entire midwest is saying “no more” and #metoo, starting with Datsik.
In case you forgot or didn’t know what went down, here’s a quick recap. Otherwise, skip the next three paragraphs.
Social justice was served when dubstep DJ and producer, Datsik, was wrapping up his Ninja Nation Tour 2018 in the midwest when sexual assault accusations began circulating around Twitter. Victims and allies began posting similar stories of being invited on his tour bus, being offered Ketamine and becoming heavily sedated. Victims would be taken advantage of and then kicked off the bus. On March 14, the stories began to catch the internet’s attention.
Multiple photos began appearing of tour passes with the word “TULSA” written in the name. A tweet from Datsik, now deleted, laughed at how “TULSA” was backward for “A SLUT”. Women would receive these passes and be escorted back to his tour bus for his picking.
Following the accusations, Datsik, born Troy Beetles, shared an illiterate statement denying the accusations and crying about his career going down the drain. Due to his terrible grammar, we’re posting a photo of the post rather than typing it out, a direct quote would lower the legitimacy of our site for Google searches.
The last 13 stops on the Ninja Nation Tour 2018 were canceled in total. Many venues canceled Datsik’s stop in their city before the official cancellation of the entire tour. Many of these shows were sold out, including his March 14 show in Des Moines, Iowa at Wooly’s. His show was canceled that very night and people were refunded for tickets.
Other venues that had more time to plan, replaced Datsik’s appearances with fundraisers for different organizations geared towards aiding sexual assault victims and educating about consent. Here’s who stepped up!
On March 21, Datsik was set to play a show Iowa City, Iowa at Blue Moose Tap House. Instead, The Blue Moon Tap House hosted a benefit show for the University of Iowa Rape Advocacy Program. RVAP offers a statewide, 24-hour sexual assault hotline (ISAH), therapy and other services to the University of Iowa and surrounding residents.
The booking manager at Blue Moose, Lucas Froeschner, shared that they had never dealt with something like this before but, the benefit turned a bad situation, better.
Blue Moose booked Kill OG, Nxbel Price, Android Antill, Dielow and raised $1,030 for the local program.
“It was fantastic! 200 people came out to help turn the bad vibes from Datsik into good, productive and helpful vibes for our community,” said Froschner.
Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis had Datsik booked for a two nights stop the following weekend of March 23 and 24. It also hosted a night fundraiser instead. Skyway Theatre decided to support RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network). The nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. The benefit featured Barely Alive, Virtual Riot and 12th Planet. Skyway theatre raised $9,387 for RAINN.
Magic Stick in Detroit did a fundraiser for #WeLoveConsent, a new sector of DanceSafe, an organization that educates and promotes safe partying and handing out harm reduction goodies at festivals. (Shout out to their endless supply of ear plugs!) The March 31 show had performances by Ana Sia, Digital Ethos, Huxley Anne, Space Jesus, Yheti and Zen Selekta.
DanceSafe posted on Facebook after the event, “We are VERY close to launching the program and we are so excited to join forces with you all to make our community a safer place for all to enjoy and have fun!”
Not only did Datsik cancel the end of his tour, but he was also dropped from Deckstar, Firepower Records and Circle Talent Agency. He will not appear on any festival line-ups ether.
Though the actions taken by the electronic music community is what gave testimonies breadth, the sexual assault survivors are the true heroes in this story. If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault, please feel assured that you are not alone. There are organizations and individuals that support you and are proactive alongside you in making our corner of the world a safer place. Please reach out if you ever feel alone. Your feelings are valid.
Feature Photo by Kara Ketcher.
