In recent years, the call for “how things used to be” has grown into something of a battle cry on social media. It’s presented as if a holy grail needs to be rediscovered: as if the scene can only be saved from zaag and kloenk by returning to a sound that was supposedly more authentic and pure. That’s how OG Raw came into existence. And honestly? I find this entire movement embarrassing.
READ ALSO: How Rejecta broke through instantly at a sold-out Qlimax in the GelreDome
There is absolutely nothing wrong with nostalgia. What really bothers me, however, is the enormous gap between what people shout online and what they actually show offline. Anyone with an RSU background yells that “the old Raw needs to come back” and that everything was better back in the day. And so, a new genre was born: OG Raw. Yet another box to put things in, acting as a band-aid on the massive wound of the keyboard warrior. With expectations sky-high and the demand for the old sound louder than ever, OG Raw was suddenly crowned as the savior.
“Let’s please leave OG Raw behind in 2025”
Shockerz switched gears at lightning speed after a difficult year, reworking their formula into OG Raw and presenting “the perfect line-up.” A classic wet dream for every OG Raw romantic. With E-Force’s new album, Unresolved, Warface, Rebelion, D-Sturb, and even Nightcraft as anthem maker – all meant to further fuel the movement. But what happened? Instead of 8,000 people showing up last Saturday to support this counter-sound, the event was cancelled even months in advance. Disappointing ticket sales, because a large part of those loud voices stayed home. The event had everything the internet claimed was missing… except visitors. OG Raw fans, this was your chance to prove that this music actually works.
If you call so loudly for a certain sound, but then don’t buy a ticket, the movement simply isn’t credible. Artists like Rejecta or Regain are now often labeled as “OG Raw,” even though they’ve simply continued doing what they’ve always done well. Those guys never needed (or looked for) a label. Their sound grew organically, not claimed by a movement that seems to exist mainly online. The bitter irony is that by hyping the term OG Raw, people actually create an artificial divide. As if something is only “real” when it fits a nostalgic ideal.
But music is alive. It evolves, it clashes, it changes. What Raw Hardstyle was in 2015 is not what Raw is in 2025 – and that’s a good thing. A genre that stands still is dead.
Rest in peace OG Raw (2024 – 2025)
So yes, I stand by it: the entire OG Raw terminology does no justice to the DJs who carry the sound, and certainly not to the scene itself. We tried it, and the actions clearly didn’t match the words. If there’s anything we should long for, let it be a time when we remembered why we went to parties in the first place: because the music moved us: not because a label/name/genre told us to. Rest in peace OG Raw: 2024 – 2025.
Hard News introduces a new column series, written by artists and the editorial team. The content reflects the author’s opinion.
Footage via Shockerz
