by Bonnie Page
The last few years have been good to dubstep powerhouse Christopher Mercer, best known as Rusko. He and his dirty, warbled bass lines have racked up a laundry list of notable achievements and future prospects:
(1) He caught the attention of Diplo and Switch, prompting an invite to open on their Lazer’s Never Die tour.
(2) Pete Tong and Santigold have both remixed his hit “Cockney Thug”.
(3) He’s produced remixes or done production work with Bassment Jaxx and Hot Chip.
(4) Very recently, he collaborated with Britney Spears on her latest album.
The thing about Rusko is that he’s dubstep, but he’s not the kind of dubstep that makes you feel like the room is full of dark corners and suspicious characters. It’s still heavy, and the bass lines are nice and dirty, but it’s upbeat and at times clubby –,complete with the lightsaber effects. In other words, his approach makes the genre relatively accessible. His debut album, O.M.G.! , pushes the boundaries of dubstep by adding elements of other genres like garage, jungle, reggae, hip hop and even disco. Basically, Rusko is one huge dance party; fun times and lots of bass.
The dubstep D.J. will be bringing his bass drops and warbled lines to Chicago’s Congress Theater on Friday, April 22. Expect whistles, lasers and lots of sweaty, sweaty dancing.
Congress Theater is located at 2135 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL 60647.
Doors open at 8:00 pm and the show is ages 17+.
See photos and review from when Rusko rocked Chicago in 2010 on Lost In Concert.
