Steve Aoki Wants To Have His Cake (But You Can Eat It)

Famed US DJ Steve Aoki has defended his tradition of throwing cake at his fans in a lengthy missive that paints naysayers of the practice as little more than "haters and trolls".

In the essay, written for The Daily Beast, Aoki takes a (slightly too sensitive) tack that seeks to justify the cake-throwing, as well as other elements of his show that have apparently caused him some grief over the years.

"The haters and the trolls have always used me as an excuse to make fun of something that is out of the ordinary, something that doesn’t necessarily make sense to them," he wrote. "For whatever reason, I have always been a target that people love to attack.  From not being American enough as an asian kid growing up in an all-white neighborhood, to not being indie enough for the die-hard hipsters in my 20s and now today, not being a 'real DJ' for the electronic music purists.

"I know it may not make sense to a lot of people. Taken out of context these ideas are honestly bizarre. The thought of bringing a cake into a dance music show is a bizarre one. The idea of rafting on top of people is just as bizarre as well. And I think whenever something bizarre comes into play it immediately becomes an easy target. And for those reasons I know that I have been the target of criticism."

Well, we're not sure about that — the criticism has at least partially come from people who walked away from an Aoki gig with cake all over their shit when that was the last thing they expected and/or wanted to happen to them, so can't be so easily excused as to solely being the work of negative Net-nellies getting about the place.

However, Aoki says, those experiences are few and far between, as he goes to great lengths to ensure that whoever is getting "caked" at least appears to be into it.

"When the average person sees someone getting caked they probably think 'Wow, that looks horrible' or, 'That is so rude and uncalled for. How could you cake your fans that love you? That is just mean and cruel.'," Aoki wrote.

"I always do my best to try and avoid anyone that does not want the cake. The way I pick who gets caked is generally by who shows me the most energy and is screaming for it. The cake is about celebration. It’s something to be experienced in person. When you see fans begging to be caked and how happy they are afterwards, it’s like scoring a touchdown. The whole place erupts and joins in that happiness."

You can read the rest of his defense here, if you're so inclined, but be warned — it covers everything from allegations of fake DJing to Illuminati references and an open admission that, for DJs, "when you’re not mixing into the next song or out of the previous one, there is not a lot to do".

Or, just check out this incredible video of Aoki nailing a fan in the face with cake from 80 feet (about 24.4 metres) away: