Regardless of its varying levels of quality, the current wave of rap and dance crossovers is undeniably one of the biggest trends emerging in dance music right now, with everyone from MSTRKRFT and The Bloody Beetroots to Crookers and David Guetta getting in on the hybrid action. As such, when ITM got Stereosonic electro wiz Surkin on the blower to chat about the Parisian’s upcoming summer tour, we pressed the young producer for his thoughts on the trend, and how it’s being received amongst the French electro crew. Unsurprisingly, he’s not on board.

“I’m not interested in it,” Surkin said, his French accent peeking through. “I’ve noticed a lot of people doing it lately, producers and DJs, but this isn’t a new thing. We at [top notch French label] Institubes have been doing this for years already. Think about the group TTC, they’re a rap group who make electro, and they’ve been making these sounds for several years now.”

Reminiscent of his refreshingly outspoken feelings to big-name DJs back in 2008, Surkin continued on with his commentary on the rap-dance mania, questioning the artistic merit behind the trend.

“I think it works when a rapper decides to try and make dance music, but when a dance producer tries to go the other way, it just does not work well,” he explained. “I grew up listening to a lot of rap music and I really love hip hop, but I don’t think I could make any hip hop myself. When you produce music to follow a trend I think it stops becoming art, you know?”

Whilst his disparaging remarks won’t win him any vocal collaborations with will.i.am, it does seem to echo the increasingly negative reaction to the ubiquitous trend that’s been bubbling over for some time now.

ITM recently took the liberty of putting together some of the best and worse rap-dance collisions in recent memory, so take a refresher course through the link below.

> ITM pres. When Dance and Rap Collide

Surkin will be in Australia this summer for the epic Stereosonic event, for your chance to experience it all up close as ITM’s very own roaming festival correspondent, enter our Stereosonic giveaway over here. In the meantime, stick to our festival page for forthcoming news and updates from the festival.