Steve Albini Discusses Edgelord Reputation, Use of the N-word on Odd Future Post in New Interview

In an interview with California Men’s Magazine Mel, iconic audio engineer Steve Albini who recorded projects as integral as Surfer Rosa and In Utero, dove into his provocateur reputation saying he is overdue for a discussion about [his] role in inspiring ‘edgelord’ shit.

Famously articulate, animatedly salty, and known for his sharp and merciless wit, Albini has gained interest as of late for giving interviews critical of anti-woke culture, contrasting earlier decisions many find problematic.

Investigative journalist Zaron Burnett had the indie rock legend responding to his past throughout the conversation published online yesterday. In regard to Rapeman, the band he fronted in the late 80s that was named after a gratuitous manga, Albini expressed regret and called its name an inexcusable choice.

I admit that I was deaf to a lot of women’s issues at the time, and that’s on me. Within our circles, within the music scene, within the musical underground, a lot of cultural problems were deemed already solved — meaning, you didn’t care if your friends were queer. Of course women had an equal place, an equal role to play in our circles. The music scene was broadly inclusive. So for us, we felt like those problems had been solved. And that was an ignorant perception.

That’s the way a lot of straight white guys think of the world — they think that it requires an active hatred on your part to be prejudiced, bigoted or to be a participant in white supremacy. The notion is that if you’re not actively doing something to oppress somebody, then you’re not part of the problem. As opposed to quietly enjoying all of the privilege that’s been bestowed on you by generations of this dominance.

That was the fundamental failure of my perception. It’s been a process of enlightenment for me to realize and accept that my very status as a white guy in America is the product of institutional prejudices, that I’ve enjoyed the benefits of them, passively and actively. And I’m responsible for accepting my role in the patriarchy, and in white supremacy, and in the subjugation and abuse of minorities of all kinds.

Perhaps more indefensible, Albini’s use of racial epithets to describe an encounter he had with influential rap group Odd Future was also deservedly brought into discussion.

In an August 2011 post made to the message board for Electrical Audio, the online forum for his personal studio, Albini complained that the group fronted by Tyler, the Creator (who was not confirmed on the shuttle) were “niggering everything in sight” and crassly boasting about “getting their dicks sucked.”

At one point, Albini seemed to make threats at the group, saying he was “quite happy none of them engaged [him] directly, because at least one of us would have regretted it”

I’ll be honest. That [shuttle experience] was a single and extreme scenario where young kids who were really full of themselves were behaving like assholes. My articulation of that whole experience was inexpertly rendered. That’s probably the best way that I can put it. I wrote my account of the afternoon up quickly, without much consideration, and I can appreciate how somebody who’s unfamiliar with me, with Odd Future and with the ideas being brought out in the subtext would be responding to seeing that word in print. And I appreciate that. That was incorrect.

It was basically me not appreciating the distinction between the casual usage and the hard R usage. And that’s my fault. That’s just cultural ignorance on my part. They were behaving atrociously, and I was simply describing their behavior and language, but I did it in a way that portrayed my own cultural ignorance.

Recovered text from the post is available at Brooklyn Vegan at the time of this posting.

When asked about his critical comments on Barstool Sports and Joe Rogan who he called anti-woke and childish, Albini mentioned his regret at not taking fascism and authoritarianism as common ideologies in America more seriously and referenced the Illinois Nazi gag in The Blues Brothers.

Steve Albini’s MO as a scene staple provocateur who speaks in the extreme has placed his earlier essays and comments at the center of negative conversations by the scene that he facilitated.

in a 1994 interview with The Chicago Reader, he labelled Liz Phair, Urge Overkill, and Smashing Pumpkins as “pandering sluts,” while comparing the latter to REO Speedwagon.

His act Big Black once wrote a character song in the perspective of a small-town pedophile about mass child molestation called “Jordan, Minnesota” off of the enormously influential Atomizer.

Albini’s batting average as a recording engineer can be called intimidating; the studio rat helped put some of the most important alternative projects ever to tape throughout his 40 year career with records by PJ Harvey, The Jesus Lizard, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Joanna Newsom, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and many, many more. In 1995 alone, he was credited on 27 projects.

Steve Albini is currently a member of minimialist noise rock trio Shellac.