I’m going to go out and say it. I do not think dubstep is technically music.

This is not a criticism. I’m not suggesting we boycott our beloved Skrillex. I am simply saying that if you really break it down, you will see that dubstep shares more qualities with drugs than it does with music.

For those of you who have never been to college out there, asking yourself, “What is a drug?” It’s something natural or artificial that directly alters the mind or body, in ways varying from disturbing to hilarious.

Music, on the other hand, has a broader definition, but I think we can all agree that it’s a composition of sounds that is created to be at least somewhat harmonious, varying in style, mood, and technique. Dubstep sounds like this: BWHA BWHABWBWBWHAAAA.

Trying to define something like dubstep, which most would probably explain as a genre of “music,” isn’t straightforward. In my effort to define what it really is, one glaring question stood out to me. What is it used for? Dubstep is not played as poppy singles, as background music, as performance art, or as really anything musically related. It is used as a drug. People blast it from their cars when they are stressed. They jack up their stereos at a party to work people into a frenzy. And interestingly, even the same people mock dubstep on a regular basis (I mean, who doesn’t?) still attend concerts and raves not to enjoy the music, but to use it as an excuse to let loose, act buck wild, get dirty and rage. We are born into a society that loves borders, personal space, and no medication makes us forget that more effectively than dubstep.

What I’m saying is, we might as well be taking dubstep intravenously. And the only real difference between dubstep and cocaine, is that it comes in an iTunes download, not in a Ziploc bag.