POP DANCE goes
The genres have collided before, but never with as much force as in the music of current acts like Skrillex,
1977: Donna Summer’s I Feel Love is a futuristic disco track that paved the way for house and techno. 1982: Afrika Bambaataa’s Planet Rock samples Germany’s Kraftwerk to become the first electro-rap record. 1983: Madonna’s Holiday, produced by DJ-boyfriend Jellybean Benitez, is dance music for the pop charts. 1988: New York rap group the Jungle Brothers releases the song I’ll House You, produced by house DJ Todd Terry, spawning the genre known as hip-house. 1989-91: Veteran soul singer Martha Wash makes hits of Italo-disco act Black Box’s Everybody Everybody and dance/pop/hip-hop crew C+C Music Factory’s Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now), the latter reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1991. 1991: Massive Attack’s debut, Blue Lines, marks the dawn of the trip-hop era. 1993: Björk’s album Debut mixes cutting-edge dance music and ethereal pop. 1995-96: The Chemical Brothers’ Exit Planet Dust and Fatboy Slim’s Better Living through chemistry mark the dawn of big beat – dance music with a rock ’n’ roll attitude. 1997: Radiohead’s OK Computer merges alternative rock with elements of ambient and experimental electronica, a journey that will be expanded on its next two albums, Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001). 1997: Daft Punk’s debut, Homework, is a landmark mix of disco, house, techno and pop. 2001: Britney Spears’s I’m a Slave 4 U, produced by Pharrell Williams, is boundary-pushing club-pop. 2005: M.I.A.’s debut album, Arular, mixes rap, electro, dancehall reggae and pop into an edgy, infectious package. 2006: Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, produced by Timbaland, takes R&B to the avant-garde. 2008: Lady Gaga’s debut album, The Fame, recontextualizes elements of cheesy Euro-dance into American pop and R&B. 2009: Black Eyed Peas’ earworm I Gotta Feeling, produced by French DJ David Guetta, mixes dance and pop for an unprecedented worldwide hit, spurring many imitators. 2012: L.A. DJ-producer Skrillex is nominated for five Grammy awards (including best new artist) and wins three, cementing his status as a new-school rock star.