PLUR, Toxic Positivity and #MeToo [Editorial]

**TRIGGER WARNING: GROOMING/EPHEBOPHILIA/RAPE/DATE RAPE**

PLUR died with fuzzy boots. I usually say this as I yearn for the “good ol’ days” when everyone traded kandi and wore light-up flower bras. But, today, I say it as a rallying cry for continued accountability and justice for victims of sexual assault in the rave scene.

For those who are just tuning in to what’s happening, chances are the only EDM content you read is about trashed campgrounds and drug overdoses; welcome back. PLUR stands for Peace Love Unity Respect. It was once our scene’s mantra. We were different from the rest of the music scenes — or so we pretended to be. Doused in neon, googly-eyed, and gnawing on a pacifier, we’d exchange the acronym and kandi, a handmade plastic bracelet, any time we squeezed past somebody in a crowd or chatted in a too-long line for the bathroom. 

But did PLUR ever really exist? 

Ultimately, the phrase led to a culture of toxic positivity. It is a convenient excuse to brush aside the hard issues and deny harsh realities to maintain the illusion of peace, love, unity, and respect. PLUR served as a veil over the darkness that conveniently flourished, unquestioned, behind the scenes. 

(Sit down, hippies. I am coming for Nahko and “good vibes only” in another post.)

RAINN found that 69% of victims of sexual violence are between the ages of 12 and 34. The obsession with impressionable young girls isn’t a new problem in the music scene.  As we’re all becoming painfully aware, EDM is not immune to it. Our Music My Body survey found that 92% of female concertgoers have experienced sexual assault or harassment at a music venue. 

This did not start with Datsik, nor does it end with Bassnectar. Those who feel like the whole scene has just begun to crumble around them have either not been affected by sexual assault or have simply not been paying attention.

In the early 2000s, Dallas had a booming after-hours EDM scene. The 17-and-up dance clubs operated roughly from 3 a.m. until sunrise and sold confiscated drugs rather than alcohol. In 2011, DarkSide, one of the two remaining after-hour clubs, shut down due to the owner pleading guilty to four accounts of drugging and raping minors. Ironic name, huh? The other club shut down four short months later.

Currently, we are seeing more high-profile people meeting their demise due to stories being collected and shared on social media — particularly Instagram. 

An Instagram account titled @evidenceagainstspacejesus was launched on May 20. It features testimonies regarding popular DJ, Space Jesus, with a common theme of him abusing ketamine, having less than consensual sexual encounters and being an all-around jackass. The artist, born Jasha Tull, did a live stream where he “addressed allegations” but, he just complained that he couldn’t read the questions and said he did a show with DanceSafe and its #WeLoveConsent program — so, obviously, he’s innocent. This is actually a perfect example of performative activism. DanceSafe announced on July 2 the termination of the non-profit’s relationship with Space Jesus. 

He mentions the show shortly after Datsik’s 2018 tour, with Space Jesus, which got stopped dead in its tracks due to similar claims. Stories circled of Datsik sending his team out to the crowd to find girls they would nickname “TULSA.” In a now-deleted tweet, Datsik claimed it was backward for “a slut.”  

Creepy fact: the legal age of consent in Oklahoma, where Tulsa is located, is 16. This leads us to our next electronic artist under fire, Bassnectar. 

Instagram account @evidenceagainstbassnectar  launched on June 28 with particularly eerie claims of him grooming girls under  18. The account is completely unrelated to the Space Jesus account yet sought the same outcome: justice. 

Six days later, Bassnectar announced the end of his music career as “underground EDM god.” 

“I am stepping back from my career and I am stepping down from my position of power and privilege in this community because I want to take responsibility and accountability.” Blah, blah, blah and then, “The rumors you are hearing of me are untrue, but I realize some of my past actions have caused pain and I am deeply sorry.”

Take it as you will. Among the testimonies was one of a young girl who met Bassnectar at a show in – you guessed it – Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

It’s not limited to the bass scene, though. Billy Kenny, a notoriously difficult artist to work with, had already been dropped by DirtyBird Records. Recently, he got called out for what he would call “tricks.” He’d pretend to drop something to prompt a woman to bend over and pick up. He would then pinch or grab their behinds. The allegations resulted in him being dropped from Shambala At Home Digital Festival. “This Ain’t Bristol,” his record label, has also removed all his releases from their catalog along with any other music that “promotes sexist ideas.”  He has since deleted all social media. 

Two more Instagram accounts have launched titled @evidenceagainsttherest and @evidenceagainstsnails are seeking to bring accountability to both events and artists in the EDM scene that have been everything but PLUR.

If we want PLUR back, regardless of how you feel about fuzzy boots, we need to accept that it was never as it seemed. We need to do a lot of work to roll back the years of toxic positivity that has plagued dance music. We can start by including more women when organizing events as well as more women performers on line ups. Pitchfork’s statistic found that only 19% of artists performing at music festivals in the United States are women.

Read that again, only 19%. 

Currently, cancel culture is an uncomfortable solution for all of us. Many of our good memories and deep friendships are attached to these artists’ songs, and it’s okay to mourn the end of an era. We can’t tell you what to do or not to do regarding these artists. What we can do is shine light into the darkness and hope for a future where sexual abuse wont go unchecked for so long.

We need to recognize that cancel culture does not end when those who abuse their powers realize the error in their ways. It ends when we stop allowing sh*tty people to have a platform in the first place. It ends when we start believing survivors the first time they speak up and quit asking them, “what did you expect?” Because what we expect is a strong dose of accountability, consent and justice along with our PLUR. 

For anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault and is seeking help, we encourage you to visit rainn.org for 24/7 support via its online chat or via its hotline at 800-656-HOPE.

Artwork by IIIMPULSIVEEE.

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