Seth Troxler Calls Steve Aoki An Untalented, Cake-Throwing C*nt
Seth Troxler has become one of the biggest DJs in the world as well as one of the most outspoken DJs as well. In an interview with Thump, Seth Troxler talked about the current state of festivals, Avicii and that of Steve Aoki.
“It’s not just a personal thing either. Their music is just shit. I’ve seen Steve Aoki play at these festivals. He keeps turning the music off, jumping around onstage, saying “This is my new single! Out next week!”, and playing the next song. You are not a fucking DJ. You’re an overpaid, untalented, cake-throwing cunt. My best friend Frank from high school is now my PA, and he’s in the Little League Hall of Fame for being a crazy good pitcher. We’re going to him with that cake, man. I’m coming for you, Aoki.”
Where’s the love?
The comments came as part of a much longer Thump piece where Troxler dug into the state of the festival circuit and mainstage EDM culture at large, not just Aoki specifically. Known for being one of underground house and techno’s most vocal critics of the mainstream festival machine, Troxler has never been shy about drawing a hard line between the DJs he considers real selectors and the ones he sees as showmen leaning on production and stage antics over actual mixing.
Aoki himself never issued a direct public rebuttal to Troxler’s comments, but fellow DJ Laidback Luke jumped to his defense shortly after the interview made the rounds. Luke argued that Aoki “works his ass off” and comes from a background performing in punk bands, which he said explains the high-energy, crowd-surfing, cake-throwing antics that have become Aoki’s signature. Luke also pushed back on the broader idea that EDM lacks culture, pointing to the genre’s roots in the underground rave scene and the way festival crowds fully embrace the PLUR ethos.
This wasn’t an isolated shot either. Troxler has taken aim at Aoki and the state of mainstage dance music on more than one occasion over the years, framing it as part of a larger conversation about authenticity in electronic music. Whether you land on Troxler’s side of the “DJ or entertainer” debate or Aoki’s, the exchange became one of the more talked-about flashpoints in the ongoing tension between the underground and the festival mainstage during this era of EDM’s explosive growth.
