People Are Pissed About The Lack Of Heavy Music In This Year’s Hottest 100

Turns out Kendrick Lamar’s controversial win in triple j‘s Hottest 100 of 2017 isn’t the only thing that’s got music fans spitting fire.

Plenty of commentators are pissed about the lack of love for the heavier genres in this year’s countdown.

As Chris O’Brien, former Soundwave GM and current Head of Touring at heavy promoter Destroy All Lines tweeted: “Huge congrats to all the Metal/Punk heavy acts that made it into the today starting with…oh wait there was none.

“Not surprised I don’t know anyone that listens to triple j that loves heavy music they have all switched to Spotify,” he added.

Arguably the heaviest song to feature in this year’s Hottest 100 was ‘Amsterdam’ by English alt-rockers Nothing But Thieves down at #70, but there was nothing else from the punk, rock or metalcore scene to be, well, seen.

And that’s a new low compared to recent years.

Last year’s Hottest Hundo saw The Amity Affliction chart three times, alongside tunes from Luca Brasi, Violent Soho and Blink-182, as well as Birds Of Tokyo’s heaviest tune ever, ‘Brace’ scraping in at #100.

Whereas the year before saw Parkway Drive chart twice, Bring Me The Horizon nab three songs in the countdown alongside tunes from Amity, Soho and The Bennies.

The heavier genres did get at least some love in the second-Hottest 100 or ‘Hottest 200’ of 2017, with tunes from Tonight Alive, Polaris, Architects, Trophy Eyes and Royal Blood all getting a guernsey this year.

But heavy music lovers are still taking triple j to task over the genre’s lack of representation overall, arguing that the shortage of votes for their favourite artists is aligned with the level of support that the J’s gives heavy music on its airwaves.

Plenty of other pundits from the heavy scene have weighed in on the subject, including former I Killed The Prom Queen/Confession frontman Michael Crafter, Polaris manager Ash Hull, ex-Soundwave boss AJ Maddah and more.

This writer for one is gobsmacked that Ocean Grove didn’t figure into the Hottest 200. What the hell is wrong with you Australia??

Seriously though, I reckon it’s probably a very similar phenomenon to the kind of ‘voter fatigue’ that young people seem to experience with Aussie elections that makes them NGAF about participating. Most heavy music fans seem to feel pretty disengaged from triple J because it doesn’t exactly represent their interests. They feel like their vote won’t count anyway (especially when you have to lodge half of your top 10 in manually), so they just don’t vote at all.

Whatever your thoughts, this year’s Hottest 100 has triggered a big conversation about the amount of support that Aussie radio gives heavy music, which TBH definitely seems like a conversation worth having.

Have a read of some pundits’ and fans’ thoughts, below.

https://twitter.com/ash_hull95/status/957183317241032709

https://twitter.com/lochlanwatt/status/957490907162361856

https://twitter.com/MashThemeSong/status/957180243785146368

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