Now that we’ve reached the halfway point of 2012, we thought it would be fun to highlight some of the best and worst moments of the year so far. This week we’re bringing you five of the highlights, while next week we’ll be bringing you some of the lowlights. Let us know what you think in the comments — we’re nothing without you.

Dance music might have been born in Chicago but it hasn’t always been as popular in the United States as it is today. In recent years the genre has grown exponentially and there are several artists who have played a major part in changing the landscape — Skrillex is one of them. He is a musical innovator, unafraid to experiment with all kinds of sounds — even when those sounds are polarizing. His risk taking paid off in a big way when he won three awards at this year’s Grammy ceremony.

Winning a Grammy is often a testament to an individual artist’s talent rather than a testament to the genre they represent, but in Skrillex’s case it was both. In his acceptance speech he acknowledged this by saying, “…everyone in the EDM community, man, this means a lot to us. I know this has been a crazy year for us. Everyone else in the category and just people who are making alternative music. I think it’s awesome that we’re all getting recognized this year….but its cool that now it’s going to open doors for everyone.” He was right.

His win put dance music on the global stage in a way it hadn’t been before. With the world’s binoculars focused on dance music, the pressure is on.

Best: 5, 4.

Tags: best of 2012, grammy, skrillex

Categories: News