As if there weren’t enough ridiculous trends that have infiltrated country music over the past decade, “YeeDM” might take the cake for the most eye-rolling. As the name states, “YeeDM” is the attempt to blend country music with electric dance music (EDM). Though this concept has been around in some form for years, it seems as if it’s gained even more steam as of late.
Between DJ Jesse Frasure (aka DJ Telemitry) launching a “YeeDM” radio station on Apple Music back in 2022 to artists such as Dustin Lynch, Kaitlin Butts, Thomas Rhett, Nate Smith and more re-releasing electric versions of tracks, there’s clearly been a market for the genre.
Outside of Diplo, who has worked with the likes of Morgan Wallen, Sturgill Simpson, Koe Wetzel, Zac Brown, Bailey Zimmerman and more, VAVO, an EDM duo comprised of Jesse Fischer and Alden Martin, is undoubtedly one of the biggest forces in the movement.
Since breaking into the country-dance scene in April 2023 with a remix of Morgan Wallen’s “Thinkin’ Bout Me,” the duo has consistently worked with established Nashville artists such as the aforementioned Smith and Rhett as well as Priscilla Block, Dylan Scott and Kane Brown. Additionally (and easily most controversially), VAVO has recently released remixes of two classic country songs: David Lee Murphy’s “Dust On The Bottle” and Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler.”
Today, VAVO teased their most controversial remix to date — none other than the late Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” Taking to Instagram in collaboration with Keith’s official account to announce its August 1st release date, Fischer said, “Toby Keith is one of my favorite artists of all time and was the second Country Music concert I’ve ever attended. Making this remix, is very near and dear to my heart and when doing so, I knew I had to make it very special. This isn’t just another remix to me, this is my expression musically for the love I have for him as an artist. I was incredibly intentional in making sure this remix was beautiful and a tribute to him and his legacy. I hope you all love this as much as I do and see this remix as a continuation of his legacy.”
Despite the caption trying to explain his reasoning behind the remix, many country fans were not happy with the prospect of Keith’s song being remixed, especially without his consent.
“I can’t believe Toby Keith’s Instagram account is willing to actively collab with this. It was a perfect real country song. there’s no need to turn it into a pop remix.”
“Toby wouldn’t have allowed It. Not with that…never!”
“Toby has gotta be rolling over in his grave right now 🥴”
“Still not too late to delete it.”
“No… Just, no… 😢”
“Real Toby fans should be offended… STOP REMIXING GOOD OLD SCHOOL COUNTRY SONGS!!!”
After posting about the news to Instagram, our followers were also not happy with the prospect of the legendary track being remixed with many taking to the comments to express their displeasure.
“its like DJs get off on refusing to learn anything about music theory. picking random chords and leaving the vocals in the wrong key. don’t promote this bs”
“This is worse than Beyoncé country”
“Yeah let’s not”
“Lamest sh*t ever leave Toby[‘s] music alone”
“It hasn’t even been a year yet and yall already making him roll in his grave”
It should be noted that Keith did, in fact, release EDM-inspired reinterpretations of his songs later in his career with both “Red Solo Cup,” “Beers Ago” and “American Ride” all getting remixes. With that being said, however, I think we can all agree that “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” should’ve probably been left alone, especially after his untimely death.