“The rave scene,” wrote researchers in a June 2000 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, “is distinguished by clandestine venues, hypnotic electronic music and the liberal use of drugs such as ecstasy, GHB and ketamine.”
Two decades later, a growing sober movement has transformed nightlife. Casual drug use is no longer a raving prerequisite.
The pronouncement also predates the first Shrek Rave by two decades. The popular, character-themed parties have covered the globe; there are two along the Front Range this month.
There aren’t (yet) any academic articles linking the Shrek raves to a rise in sober raving, but we think creator Ka5sh deserves some credit for ushering in an era where people are less focused on mind-altering substances.
“Shrek Rave is a lot of people’s first-ever rave,” says the L.A.-based artist. “A lot of people don’t know how to get into it or where to go. Especially a lot of kids coming up during the pandemic, they didn’t get nightlife.
“We’re easing them into the real rave stuff. It’s not as hard-hitting and scary.”
The first Shrek Rave was a sold-out fundraiser for Ka5sh’s sister after she was shot nine times during an armed robbery. Now, they are a global phenomenon and full-time job for Ka5sh, the one-time aspiring rapper and self-proclaimed memelord. From Shrek to Spongebob, themed raves are on regular rotation at smaller music venues.
“Broadway rave, Minecraft rave, Hello Kitty rave — everyone’s doing a thing,” Ka5sh says. “There’s been a Shrek rave in every continent. We’ve hit the whole world.”
The day Boulder Weekly spoke with Ka5sh, he was on-set filming a music video (which one, he wouldn’t say). He made time to talk about his legacy, rave and fan cultures and why there’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure.
Q: Why Shrek? What about the movies speaks to you?
A: When I was a kid, if I went to Blockbuster, my mom would let me pick out one movie. I would try to watch it over and over because I didn’t know when I was going to see it again.
For four days straight, I watched Shrek. I wanted to lock it into my brain.
I moved to L.A. in 2016 to become a rapper and then somehow ended up making memes and became a memelord. I wanted to make meme stuff real, tangible — and obviously make money off it. I did the world’s first meme art show in 2017. From there, I realized people don’t really want to buy art, but they want to go to a party.
I was doing meme-centered parties. I had the idea for Shrek Rave in 2019, but then the pandemic happened. It was huge in meme culture.
Then my sister was a victim of an armed robbery. They tried to kill her, they shot her nine times. She had hospital bills, medical bills. The shelf life for a GoFundMe is a couple days. Shrek Rave — that’s something I can do to get some money really fast.
Q: What Shrek character would you most want to party with at a rave?
A: Donkey, for sure. Donkey gets it. Then the Gingerbread Man and then the Three Little Pigs.
Q: Canonically, what drugs do different Shrek characters do?
A: Someone once made a meme about Donkey smoking weed more than Snoop Dogg. He would find weed somewhere and eat it.
Shrek is straight edge. He would never do drugs. You wouldn’t try to sell Shrek drugs.
Q: One of the Shrek Rave taglines is ‘Cool is dead.’ Who killed cool?
A: Cool has actually been dead the whole time. It’s a plot twist. We’re all pretending it’s alive. We’ve been Weekend at Bernie’s-ing cool.
Shrek Rave is interesting because it made everybody realize, ‘Why are we carrying around this dead body?’ I want to be weird. I want to paint myself green and I want to hang out with a bunch of people who also love this thing.
They call stuff guilty pleasures. Why are you guilty about the thing you love? Just love that thing.
In the swamp
9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, Aggie Theatre 204 S. College Ave. Ft. Collins. $25
8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, 10 Mile Music Hall, 710 Main St., Frisco. $30