Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (song)

Last updated

"Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"
Single by Skrillex
from the EP Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
ReleasedOctober 22, 2010
Recorded2010
Genre Dubstep
Length4:06
Label
Songwriter(s) Sonny Moore
Producer(s) Sonny Moore
Skrillex singles chronology
"Weekends"
(2010)		"Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"
(2010)		"First of the Year (Equinox)"
(2011)

"Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" is a song by American electronic dance music producer Skrillex. It was released as the lead single from his second EP of the same name on October 22, 2010. On February 12, the song won Best Dance Recording at the 54th Grammy Awards. Since then, it has been regarded as one of the best dance songs of all time. [1] [2]

Contents

Background and composition

According to Noisia, "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" started being worked on in their vocal booth when Skrillex was staying with them, writing songs together, [3] in May 2010. [4] Noisia said that, after member Nik showed Skrillex the FM8 synthesizer, Skrillex created "FM8 Test", which would later become "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites". Skrillex finished the song's first draft after he went back home. [3]

It uses a vocal sample of exclamations from Rachael Nedrow (also known as "speedstackinggirl") shouting "Yes, oh my gosh!", after speedily stacking a set of cups in one of her YouTube videos. [5] Although permission to use the sample was not initially granted nor was Nedrow aware of its use, she was later compensated an undisclosed sum. [6]

The song name was inspired by the David Bowie album and song Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and has been remixed by a variety of producers such as Zedd, Noisia, Kaskade among others.

Reception

It was used in the 2012 film Spring Breakers and an ad for GoPro titled "Kayak Kiss with Ben Brown", [7] and also the video games MLB 2K12 and Ridge Racer Unbounded . On October 3, 2013, the song was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales exceeding 2,000,000 units. [8] It was also certified Gold within Canada, with sales exceeding 40,000 units. [9] On February 12, the song won Best Dance Recording at the 54th Grammy Awards.

In 2012, Spin named it the fifth greatest dubstep song of all time. [10] In 2015, the same magazine named it the second greatest electronic dance music (EDM) anthem of the first half of the 2010s. [11] In 2016, Kat Bein named it the best song in Skrillex's discography at the time. [12] In 2017, Vice named it the best EDM song of all time. [1] In 2019, Billboard staff considered it one of the 100 songs that defined the decade [13] and the ninth greatest dance song of the decade. [14] In 2022, Rolling Stone Australia named it the 64th greatest dance song of all time. [2]

According to a scientific study published in Acta Tropica, the song can provide protection against mosquito bites; in the study, the authors write that "female mosquitoes exposed to the song 'Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites' attacked hosts much later than their non-exposed peers." [15] Although this observation at first glance is humorous, it also indicates that low-frequency tones (a signature of "Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites") can serve as a more environmentally friendly means of pest control (versus pesticides). [16]

Track listing

Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"4:03

Charts and certifications

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Nedrow can refer to:

References

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  2. 1 2 Dolan, Jon; Lopez, Julyssa; Matos, Michelangelo; Staffe, Claire (July 25, 2022). "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone Australia . Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Noisia interview: Beyond The Outer Edges". Skiddle. July 4, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  4. ↑ Dj Aroy. "Noisia - Interview". Actualites Electroniques. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  5. ↑ Fedida, Ethan. "Skrillex's "Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites" get a mouthstep a cappella remix!". CBS News. CBS. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  6. ↑ Cunningham, Hailey. "Cup stacking champ Rachael Nedrow discusses the sport and Skrillex". The Chronicle. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  7. ↑ "GoPro Official Website: The World's Most Versatile Camera". Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  8. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - August 19, 2013". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  9. ↑ Gold and Platinum Search Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "The 30 Greatest Dubstep Songs of All Time". Spin . July 24, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  11. ↑ "These Will Be the Years: The 100 Greatest EDM Anthems of the '10s". Spin . May 28, 2015. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  12. ↑ Bein, Kat (December 1, 2016). "The 20 Best Skrillex Songs". Billboard . Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  13. ↑ Bain, Katie (November 21, 2019). "Songs That Defined the Decade: Skrillex's 'Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites'". Billboard . Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  14. ↑ "The 60 Greatest Dance Songs of the Decade: Staff List". Billboard . November 26, 2019. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  15. ↑ Dieng, Hamady; The, Ching Chuin; Satho, Tomomitsu; Miake, Fumio; Wydiamala, Erida; Kassim, Nur Faeza A.; Hashim, Nur Aida; Morales Vargas, Ronald E.; Morales, Noppawan P. (2019). "The electronic song "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" reduces host attack and mating success in the dengue vector Aedes aegypti". Acta Tropica. 194: 93–99. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.03.027. PMID   30922800.
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