Jackmaster has led renewed calls from DJs against sexism in the music industry.
The Scottish DJ began the conversation about female representation in the industry in a series of tweets posted yesterday (February 5), with his words prompting his DJing contemporaries to add their voices to the fight against sexism.
Referring to comments that he recently heard about female DJs – though he wouldn’t name who made the comments in question, stating “this isn’t a witch hunt” – Jackmaster then apologised for staying silent on the subject for so long.
“Tonight was the first time that the plight and/or prejudice surrounding females in the music industry truly hit home and resonated with me,” he wrote. “It is way, waaay too easy to be ignorant to the fact as a male DJ in a privileged position. There is something very wrong here.
“To hear the things that I heard said about females in the industry tonight were fucking not acceptable. I apologise for my prior ignorance and silence on the subject. That stops now.”
Jackmaster’s words were later echoed by a number of his fellow DJs, with Scuba saying “sexism in our scene is endemic”, while Kloves revealed:“I’ve experienced sexism on numerous occasions, still fighting and working my way through. Thank you for the support.”
See Jackmaster’s tweets below.
1) Tonight was the 1st time that the plight and/or prejudice surrounding females in the music industry truly hit home and resonated with me
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
2) It is way waaay too easy to be ignorant to the fact as a male DJ in a privileged position. There is something very wrong here.
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
3) To hear the things that I heard said about females in the industry tonight were fucking not acceptable.
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
4) I apologise for my prior ignorance and silence on the subject. That stops now.
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
Stop asking me to "name and shame". This isn't a witch hunt. If you think it is then you're part of the problem. Hate breeds hate.
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
My ignorant stance used to be that there was "loads of successful female DJs doing great".. what a prick
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
To echo what @blackmadonnachi said recently, apparently a female can't make a track on her own. Some 1 MUST have made it on their behalf zzz
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
Big men with little dicks jealous of ladies with talent, intelligence, integrity. Trying to shoot them down. Im off to bed haha
— JACKMASTER (@jackmaster) February 5, 2017
Last month, Jackmaster was caught up in a shooting at BPM Festival in Mexico, which saw five music fans killed.