{
  "id": 14247420,
  "title": "The Creator of ‘Smutstep’ Wants You to ‘Let Your Freak Flag Fly’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/the-creator-of-smutstep-wants-you-to-let-your-freak-flag-fly",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-13T16:35:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "404 Media",
    "slug": "404-media",
    "url": "https://www.404media.co/smutstep-dubstep-booktok-growl-darq-dagr/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Last week, a video of a man growling horny lines over a dubstep beat went viral. The creator, known as DARQ DAGR (real name James), is a dubstep musician and voice artist who's been working in the industry for years. Smutstep, a subgenre of dubstep, emerged as a reaction to BookTok, a subculture on TikTok built by book lovers. Books like The Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) have gained massive readerships for their blend of high fantasy and erotic content. James saw a way to combine two niches that complement each other - the BookTok culture and dubstep culture. He describes smutstep as letting your freak flag fly in a safe and healthy space. Despite the harsh reactions from some, James emphasizes that smutstep is not meant to be taken seriously. He enjoys the community he's created around it and encourages others to have fun with it as well.",
  "summary": "DARQ DAGR combined BookTok romantasy and dubstep to create something new and somewhat controversial. “It’s accepting and embracing what you're into within a safe and healthy space,\" he said. \"I think that's a really beautiful thing.”",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}