Life as one of the most hated men in EDM isn’t so bad — and neither is he …

When one thinks of Borgore — the Israeli prince of filthy dubstep— images of insatiable nymphos, horse masks and Miley Cyrus sticking her tongue out while screeching about how much she and her fellow bitches love cake quickly manifest. Lost? Brush up on Borgore’s controversial lyrics and come back to us.

What might not come to mind, however, are terms like committed musician, altruistic mentor and reclusive perfectionist. They’re terms which are a quick glimpse into the life of Asaf Yoseph “Borgore” Borger, who is simply just a misunderstood artist with a taste for intensity.

Beginning at an early age, Borgore’s life was tightly intertwined with music. Like most other musicians, Borgore was steeped in tunes since he was hardly old enough to walk.

“I started learning music when I was really young, like 3 or 4, and I went to private music school all my life,” he tells us in a thick accent. Toward the end of his stint in the Israeli Army — a mandatory three-year commitment after high school for all Israeli men — Borgore reignited his love of music and discovered the burgeoning, bass-heavy genre of dubstep for the first time.

“It was almost a spiritual feeling that I had when I listened to dubstep for the first time, and I just decided that was what I wanted to do,” he says, reminding us of our first experience being balls deep in hot, nasty bass (and what a glorious moment it was for all of us). Within months of leaving the army, Asaf was already on his way to one of his first festival performances, the initial steps on a career path that would prove to be non-stop work in subsequent years. It’s work that he admittedly loves doing.
       
Since his music career first took off, Borgore’s calendar has been overrun with tour dates and festival appearances both in the states and abroad. He claims the workload doesn’t bother him at all. “One of my favorite parts about touring is getting a real reaction to the music that I create. But I also love being in different places, getting drunk…and of course all the chicks!”

Oddly enough, the author of booty-clapping anthems such as “Ratchet” and “ Syrup” claims he spends more time holed up in a hotel room perfecting his productions or playing video games than he does chasing tail and partying.

“It’s actually kind of bad,” he says. “People will try to take me to after-parties and shit like that, but I’d rather go to the hotel and work on something that I mixed up during the show — I’m just weird like that.”

But don’t worry, ladies, he says he still takes time to peek at #bootyforborgore pics sent to him on Twitter. Obviously his reclusive work ethic and online tenacity pays off, as he is one of the most recognizable names in the EDM genre with close to 5 million followers across his social networks.

Whether it’s for shock value or just because he likes making people a little uncomfortable, Borgore’s gritty sound and obscene lyrics have gained him popularity on a grand scale. And now that he has clout in the industry, he’s setting his sights on helping out other musicians who are in the same position he was just a handful of years ago. By creating his own Buygore record label, Borgore hopes to not only develop his own sound further, but to also lend a hand for up-and-coming talent.

“One reason that I started my own label is that I don’t want anyone to control what I write and release,” he says, noting it was difficult for him to release music in the beginning because established labels “didn’t want to fuck with how outside-of-the-box my music was.”

But now that the tables have turned, he just wants to give back to those producers who share his plight. His most recent album, “The Buygore Album,” which he describes as “a super-collaboration with the kids on the label,” is his way of helping other musicians get their work to the masses. “I’m trying to build them up,” he says, “I feel like an album under the name Borgore will get them much more attention than if they were by themselves.”

Of course, Borgore’s climb to the top of his game hasn’t been without challenges. His wildly vulgar and sexual lyrics — often labeled misogynistic and offensive — have made him the object of plenty of scorn throughout his career. “It’s not that I try to be controversial,” he argues. “I’m just saying things that are on a lot of people’s minds,” noting that some of his fellow DJs are even dirtier than himself. But when faced with the reality that his songs are often incredibly offensive, he brushes it off saying, “It’s all in good fun, but people tend to overreact.” In spite of this backlash, though, he still has legions of dedicated bros and self-proclaimed “Borwhores” who revel in songs that have the distinct talents of making us want to shower after listening.  

Asaf’s altruism and selflessness came as a bit of a surprise — but then again, so did almost everything we learned about him. Everything from his soft-spoken manner to his utter dedication to perfection revealed a disparity between the image we had in our heads and reality. Though he still has a dirty mind and a dirtier mouth, we were able to discover several different sides to the man known as Borgore. He’s a giver and a mentor, a recluse and a perfectionist, but most of all he’s just a guy who loves to get everyone hyped.

– by Joe LaFond

Upcoming Show Deets:

Thursday, Feb 10 – @ The Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO

Friday, Feb 11 – @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO