I watched the video embedded below on the New York Times this morning; it features a collaboration between three megastars – the producer Diplo, the electronic master Skrillex and the pop phenom Justin Bieber.  I know virtually nothing about any of them, though I did read a nice writeup on Skrillex several years back in the New Yorker.  The music, as with most contemporary artists, is completely unknown to me.

I have an interest in produced collaborations.  Skrillex addresses the issue of produced music near the end of the video – he says that he’s humored by people who think that computer music takes no talent – he says it just shows how bright and long the future of his types of compositions are, as more and more people begin to appreciate them.  He speaks of little bits of sounds, talks about “destroying” them, and about intentionally putting in some bad sounding stuff so you always have work to do on the composition.

Diplo seems to sit in the background and comment on the sounds, not making them himself, of course.  He calls Skrillex the best drum mixer in the game.  He says you want an earwig tune that you can listen to for hours without tiring of it.

Bieber talks about sounds being expensive, and about, now that he’s 21, being able to infuse his music with the emotions of his experiences.  He talks about Pooh Bear being the best writer he knows (Bieber co-wrote this song with him).

Pop music is basically all lost on me, but based on the snippets in this video, the song they made together has a pleasant sound.  I also like it when people work together instead of tearing each other down – I don’t have a lot of room for haters in the musical milieu! The acrimony often found in musicland (though fans are probably responsible for most of it) is only alluded to in the video. Overall, the video is quite well-produced.

http://nyti.ms/1PxHO8J

I also like the final scene in the credits with Bieber and Skrillex wheeling around.  I”m not sure what Skrillex is riding.

Thanks for reading.

Ryan