Music Review: Skrillex's F*ck U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol But Ur Not!! <3

by Austin Krentz

In the early 2010s, few artists grabbed the attention of internet-obsessed teenagers quite like Skrillex. Through a series of EPs and singles, he released several era-defining tracks such as Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, First of the Year (Equinox), and Bangarang. These songs and their associated music videos amassed millions of views on YouTube (a burgeoning social media at the time) and caused Skrillex to become the face of modern electronic music
for better or worse.

The movement he was a part of, so-called Dubstep, was characterized by its heavy and climactic ‘drops’ and its warped and emphatic ‘wubs.’ Songs were just vehicles for wild noises and intense energy. Dubstep originally referred to a form of moody and austere electronic music made by real artists. Therefore, highbrow Electronic nerds reviled Skrillex and his cohorts. That was fine though since Brostep (the proper term) tantalized metalheads and poptimists
alike. This form of music was so alluring to metalheads in fact that Bakersfield legends Korn decided to hire Skrillex and other dubstep producers to work on their 2011 album The Path of Totality.

Dubstep had reached its cultural zenith and Skrillex found mainstream success. He along with Diplo and Justin Bieber created the smash hit “Where Are Ü Now” and he landed work with the likes of Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and Ed Sheeran. However, his cult status dwindled and he was relegated to has-been status. Therefore, after 2015’s Jack Ü with Diplo, Skrillex did not release another album for eight years and mostly existed in the background of pallid radio hits and on the main stage at EDM festivals.

In those eight years, however, the landscape of media changed. Music sales were now recorded in streams. Artists were incentivized to create music that could exist as TikTok sound clips. The general meme-y-ness of art rose to prevalence. Nostalgia and consumption ruled all. Movie and TV series were rebooted. Screamo bands who broke up 20 years ago got back together. Thus, the return of Skrillex seemed almost tectonic in its choreography.

Skrillex’s first album in eight years, Quest for Fire, released in 2023. While Skrillex is a beloved/reviled artist, this album almost ignores that fact. Rather than leaning into his status as a commercial powerhouse to capitalize on his past successes, he takes that fame and power to the bank and uses it to buy state of the art electronic equipment and hire leagues of talented artists to work alongside him. The result is a relatively low-key album of Electronic Pop and Dance music. In an age of artistic implosions, the album was a respectable murmur.

Skrillex’s second album of 2023, Don’t Get Too Close, released the next day with almost the opposite thesis. The album was a collection of undercooked Pop tunes featuring scores of trendy vocalists (excitingly including Bladee, Yung Lean, and Chief Keef). As neat as it was, this album read like a cash-grab by a washed-up artist.

Following these two confused albums of split ideology and a two-year incubation period, Skrillex prankishly released the album F*ck U Skrillex on April 1st, 2025. The album is a collection of both/and-s and neither/nor-s. Erudite and idiotic, forward thinking and nostalgic, high-brow and low-class, thought-provoking and head-banging. The album is presented as a seamless DJ Mix hosted by DJ Smokey (a fellow victim of meme culture) and is spread across 34 tracks. The tracks range from 30 seconds to 3 minutes and rarely ever present themselves as ‘songs’.

The music is shattered and disparate. The second track “SPITFIRE” has the same structure as classic Skrillex tunes (verse/build/drop/repeat) but manages to accomplish everything
in 90 seconds (Scary Monsters is 4 minutes in comparison). The last 30 seconds of the track are also almost entirely devoted to an incessant and un-danceable jittering. The following track “WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING VIP” follows similar trend: 20 seconds of hype-building and posturing followed by 30 seconds of chainsaw noises and virginal squeaks. “SLICKMAN” is almost entirely devoted to a single theme that sounds halfway between a camera shutter and a shotgun. Tracks range from interludes and ligaments (“TEARS LOST DROP, SQUISHY CLIP”) to melodic fantasies (“THINGS I PROMISED, MOMENTUM,” and “SEE YOU AGAIN VIP”) to sonic nightmares (“JUNGUNDRA” and “RECOVERY”). If you do not like what you are listening to, odds are the music will be completely different in 10 seconds. This is important since there is certainly a gradient of quality here. Though, perhaps this is a necessary evil in a work of re/deconstruction of this caliber.

Even with these short tracks, Skrillex is able to create some impressive constructions. “ANDY” begins with a classic R&B groove before transitioning into hype-infused EBM followed by chilled-out Pop and ending with a section as wholeheartedly resonant as it is blistering. “MIRCHI TEST” takes a single rhythmic idea and stretches it through different styles, intensities, and colors. Even the simplest tracks have much to offer. “ANIMALS BEAT” is based around a single vocal pulse with animal noises; and it is still more artistically relevant than the entirety of Don’t Get Too Close.

F*ck U Skrillex is perhaps best thought of as a work of pure integrity and ego. Skrillex is a complex artist with a complex legacy. It is hard to reconcile his massive success with his humble beginnings. He is a person who loves music and loves making music but also has a job to make music (this album came as a result of him wanting to get out of his record contract). To make music that sounds any one way is a disservice to himself. Therefore, to make something all-encompassing and mutated is the only way to create something truly personal.

Austin Krentz is a farmer and music lover from Berlin, Wisconsin.