“PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA” – AUDREY HEPBURN :: I am a fan of Paris Hilton. I like her style, I like her perfume, I find her intriguing. In 2006 I was her official Toronto host when she debuted her first album, Paris. I’ve watched every episode of her BFF reality show.
In my post Paris Is Burning I shared the news of Hilton embarking on becoming a house music DJ, and, as she kept details of her label and producers top secret, I speculated a PR plan to create a lot of press; talk, and hype leading up to the release date, set for the end of 2012. (For her new album she’s enlisted the help of some of the biggest names in the game: deadmau5, Afrojack, and David Guetta.)
Can Paris Hilton, whose star has been eclipsed in recent years by Kim Kardashian, re-invent herself as master of a respected skill, toiling in house music, the very genre that gave rise to the god-is-a-DJ phenom?
I adore Paris and find her to be a genuinely kind person, but I think she may not know what kind of road she had ahead of her. Just because she has the means to devote herself to being taught a skill – and the name brand in place to draw attention to her new endeavour – doesn’t mean she has an actual musical and technical gift.
I saw a video of her playing live and I felt bad for her and embarrassed for the electronic music dance scene (EMDS), and I agree with WantTickets.com blogger, Ben, who wrote, “… this really should be about the music, but the way that she appears to be exploiting the mainstream rise of house music does not sit well with me at all. Maybe I’m wrong here but I don’t recall her ever expressing her love of house music…”
Perhaps Ben does recall the 2009 Winter Music Conference in Miami, when Paris asked DJ Steve Angelo the worst thing anyone could request of a electronic music DJ: to play hip-hop.
Maybe she’s changed her musical tastes since, and I can assure you some tracks will rock. How can they not? If her Paris single ‘Stars Are Blind’ single went Top 10 in 17 countries with no help of the likes of deadmau5, Afrojack or David Guetta, some of her new tracks will simply have to be good given the backing she’s had.
Still, the majority of house-heads I know feel she doesn’t know anything about house music or even like it, and predict she’ll never be accepted into the scene as a serious DJ. The electronic music dance scene is a very cultivated group; all the money, lighting, costumes, and crew won’t simply buy her access.
But this is just one more reason why I’m a Paris Hilton fan: with everything against her, she goes for it anyway.
– Dancefloor royalty, Miss Raquel is publisher of Scenester magazine and host of The Miss Raquel Show. Join her on Twitter.
