Resident Advisor‘s Between the Beats episode on techno DJ Nina Kraviz has sparked a debate over the age-old question of femininity in dance music. The dispute stems from a contentious scene involving Kraviz discussing the tribulations of life on the road for a female DJ… whilst simultaneously frolicking naked in the bath.
The so-called hypocrisy has caused a ripple of outrage amongst fans and artists alike. Some felt the RA video tastelessly played up Kraviz’s sex appeal instead of focusing on her talents as a DJ.
Maceo Plex gave his two pennies via Facebook: “Shout out to the ladies playing amazing music and pushing the scene forward with nothing else but sick records and studio time. Cassy Britton, Steffi, Maya Jane Coles, Heidi, Magda, Margaret Dygas, Ellen Allien.”
One RA user joked: “To be a woman, in this profession, is really not easy sometimes’ – [she] said pushing foam around lying naked in a bath… what’s Russian for irony Nina?”
Kraviz herself responded to Maceo Plex’s statements with outrage demanding that “sexism and all similar bullshit must die. And the first step to it is to let artists be who they are regardless of their gender, skin color, sexual orientation, etc.” She also explained her discomfort with the RA video’s focus on what life was like for her as a female DJ: “I found it a bit too focused on me as a female. They wanted no talks about acid techno, dance mania and all that – they wanted it because they knew it would create a little mess.”
Disco legend Greg Wilson rushed to Kraviz’s defence in a lengthy article on his own blog. Wilson articulated the crux of the issue stating that “Nina’s femininity is both her passport to fame and fortune and the stick with which she’ll be beaten.”
Catch Nina Kraviz playing in London on the 24th May at Tief, Corsica Studios.
By Georgina Burks
