Background and composition[edit]
According to Noisia, "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" started being worked on in their vocal booth when Skrillex was staying with them, writing songs together,[1] in May 2010.[2] Noisia said that, after member Nik showed Skrillex the FM8 synthesizer, Skrillex created "FM8 Test", which would later become "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites". Skrillex finished the song's first draft after he went back home.[1]
It uses a vocal sample of exclamations from Rachael Nedrow (also known as "speedstackinggirl") shouting "Yes, oh my gosh!", after speedily stacking a set of cups in one of her YouTube videos.[3] Although permission to use the sample was not initially granted nor was Nedrow aware of its use, she was later compensated an undisclosed sum.[4]
The song name was inspired by the David Bowie album and song Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and has been remixed by a variety of producers such as Zedd, Noisia, Kaskade among others.
Reception[edit]
It was used in the 2012 film Spring Breakers and an ad for GoPro titled "Kayak Kiss with Ben Brown",[5] and also the video games MLB 2K12 and Ridge Racer Unbounded. On October 3, 2013, the song was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales exceeding 2,000,000 units.[6] It was also certified Gold within Canada, with sales exceeding 40,000 units.[7] On February 12, the song won Best Dance Recording at the 54th Grammy Awards.
In 2012, Spin named it the fifth greatest dubstep song of all time.[8] In 2015, the same magazine named it the second greatest electronic dance music (EDM) anthem of the first half of the 2010s.[9] In 2016, Kat Bein named it the best song in Skrillex's discography at the time.[10] In 2017, Vice named it the best EDM song of all time.[11] In 2019, Billboard staff considered it one of the 100 songs that defined the decade[12] and the ninth greatest dance song of the decade.[13] In 2022, Rolling Stone Australia named it the 64th greatest dance song of all time.[14]
According to a scientific study published in Acta Tropica, the song can provide protection against mosquito bites; in the study, the authors write that "female mosquitoes exposed to the song 'Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites' attacked hosts much later than their non-exposed peers."[15] Although this observation at first glance is humorous, it also indicates that low-frequency tones (a signature of "Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites") can serve as a more environmentally friendly means of pest control (versus pesticides).[16]