Calvin Harris is defending his musical choices after a fan criticized the set he played as the closing performance at Ultra Music Festival 2024 in Miami this past weekend.
The Scottish DJ/producer took to social media to respond after a festivalgoer called his Ultra headlining set “underwhelming” in a comment. Harris did not mince words in his clapback.
“You expect me to play none of my songs? 3 songs since 2014 hmm how deep is your love – billion streams, this is what u came for – billion streams, my way – billion streams, slide – billion streams, feels – billion streams, one kiss – billion streams,” Harris fired back, listing off many of his biggest commercial hits over the last decade.
He continued, “and the other 5 half a bil and before 2014 another 20 and not cheesy shit proper fucking songs with real artists and you’d rather I play Fein trap edits today.. spent months making new versions of everything for this and you wonder why I never play edm festivals..“
Harris closed by saying “at least people I saw irl had a great time and I can be happy with that but fuck at this point whatever I do is gonna piss you off.“
The multi-platinum artist’s rebuttal highlights the divide between the mainstream pop/dance hits he has become known for and the sound preferred by more hardcore electronic dance music fans.
As one of the biggest acts to headline Ultra’s flagship event, Harris seemingly prioritized his widely popular radio-friendly bangers over underground house and techno tracks.
While huge crowds sang along to smashes like “How Deep Is Your Love” and “This Is What You Came For,” some festival diehards felt Harris’ setlist catered too much to casual pop fans.
The social media exchange shows Harris has little interest in deviating from his proven formula of massive crossover hits when making festival appearances. His dozens of songs with billions of streams speak for themselves.
Whether keeping it more mainstream or not, Harris contends the live crowd seemed to enjoy his Ultra closing set, even if he can’t please everyone decrying his tendencies towards pop-friendly dance music.
The dustup seems to be just another day in the life of a top DJ/producer who has achieved unprecedented mainstream success alongside intense scrutiny from more underground-leaning dance fans.
