A late contender for Song of the Summer has emerged – and it’s ‘Planet Of The Bass’ by DJ Crazy Times and Ms. Biljana Electronica. With its powerhouse female vocals, infectiously tinny beats and nonsensical yet strangely inspiring rap – “life, it never die / women are my favourite guy!” – it transports you instantly to a packed dance floor in Xanthi. Specifically, a packed dance floor where no one is pestering the DJ for a selfie, because it’s 1997 and iPhones haven’t been invented yet.
Sure, ‘Planet Of The Bass’ is a parody, but it’s an exceptionally catchy and well-crafted parody. DJ Crazy Times is a character created by Kyle Gordon, a writer, comedian and content creator from New York. Last month, he posted his latest spoof on TikTok with an on-screen explainer that he is sending up “every European dance song in the 1990s”. Since then, ‘Planet Of The Bass’ has blown up on TikTok, Tumblr and Twitter, and even earned a co-sign from Danish Eurodance legends Aqua. Evidently recognising their influence on the song’s euphoric chorus and male rapper-female vocalist interplay, the ‘Barbie Girl’ hitmakers commented: “Wait, is this play about us???”
— Kyle Gordon (@kylegordon101) July 28, 2023
Gordon’s reply to their comment, in which he hails Aqua’s 1997 debut ‘Aquarium’ as “one of the greatest dance albums of all time”, is pretty revealing. One reason why ‘Planet Of The Bass’ has taken off is because its winking tribute to Eurodance, a genre that hasn’t ever been taken very seriously, is fundamentally affectionate and uplifting. “When the rhythm is glad, there is nothing to be sad,” Ms. Biljana Electronica sings with an exaggerated sense of earnestness. Even DJ Crazy Times’ style-defying outfit – a cropped waistcoat paired with baggy combat trousers – is a reminder of simpler times.
However, Gordon’s spoof has also been boosted by its loose musical similarity to the ongoing onslaught of ’90s-inspired dance bangers. In fact, the comedian’s announcement that a “full song” version of ‘Planet Of The Bass’ is coming on August 15 surely proves we’ve reached peak ’90s rave revival. One of this year’s biggest hits is ‘Miracle’ by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, a retrobanger inspired by ’90s trance and Eurodance that racked up eight weeks at Number One. ‘Miracle’ has proved so popular that Harris has teamed with Sam Smith for another trance tune, ‘Desire’, which is expected to crack the Top 20 this week.
Harris is far from the only artist riding the ’90s rave revival. This summer, superstar DJ Peggy Gou has scored a huge breakthrough hit with ‘(It Goes Like) Nanana’, a sun-dappled bop that updates the Ibiza chillout sound of the late ’90s. Other chartbusters wear their Eurodance influences a little less lightly. Ella Henderson and Switch Disco have cracked the Top 10 with ‘React’, a dance-pop thumper that samples Robert Miles’ haunting 1995 trance instrumental ‘Children’. ‘Baby Don’t Hurt Me’, a Top 15 hit for David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray, uses a sizeable slab of Haddaway’s 1993 anthem ‘What Is Love’.
Meanwhile, Rita Ora has reworked Fatboy Slim‘s 1998 Big Beat banger ‘Praise You’ into the shameless but satisfying ‘Praising You’, complete with a cameo from the man himself in the video. Kim Petras and Nicki Minaj sample Alice Deejay’s 1999 Eurodance anthem ‘Better Off Alone’ on their recent hit ‘Alone’, but cleverly flip its lyrics. Instead of dolefully pondering “do you think you’re better off alone?”, Petras asks a potential partner more assertively : “What’s it gonna take to get you all alone?”
It’s easy to see the appeal of these tried and tested ’90s dance hits: they’re comfortingly familiar and irresistibly nostalgic. Depending on your age, they might evoke a childhood holiday in Greece, a lads’ trip to Malaga or a sweaty Freshers’ week night out at Oceana (RIP). Crucially, they also have big, slick hooks that sound terrific on TikTok. The song that put the wheels on this whole trend, ‘I’m Good (Blue)’ by David Guetta and Bebe Rexha, a remake of Eiffel 65’s Eurodance staple ‘Blue (Da Ba Dee)’, became a global chart-topper last September after going viral on the platform.
Now, nearly a year later, DJ Crazy Times is reminding us that a stellar Eurodance banger doesn’t have to make sense. When Ms. Biljana Electronica sings “all of the dream, how does it mean?”, it may not be Shakespeare, but you kind of know where she’s coming from. At 3am on a packed dance floor, it might even sound profound. The question now is: can ‘Planet Of The Bass’ follow other retro-flavoured earworms into the charts? Only time will tell, though if it needs some extra momentum, maybe Aqua can jump on a remix? And either way, don’t be surprised if David Guetta samples it during the next ’90s revival in 2053.
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