American DJ has unique ritual of throwing cake at his fans and his accuracy blowing people's minds

If anybody has attended DJ Steve Aoki's concerts and shows, they are well aware and prepared to get caked. The "Waste It On Me" hitmaker has faced several controversies and criticism over his cake-throwing ritual for over a decade while performing around the world but that has not stopped Aoki from improving his cake-throwing aim to date. In one of the resurfaced YouTube videos of Aoki with over 110 million views, we can see him launching a cake at his fan who is holding up a sign that proves they are voluntarily participating in this.

But Aoki penned a lengthy article for The Daily Beast back in 2014, detailing how this whole cake-throwing became a mandatory part of his concerts and how fans love it. “The haters and the trolls have always used me as an excuse to make fun of something that is out of the ordinary, something that doesn’t necessarily make sense to them," Aoki defended his actions. “Taken out of context these ideas are honestly bizarre. The thought of bringing a cake into a dance music show is a bizarre one. The idea of rafting on top of people is just as bizarre as well. And I think whenever something bizarre comes into play it immediately becomes an easy target. And for those reasons, I know that I have been the target of criticism.”

Aoki continued about how the idea of throwing a cake at his fans who voluntarily wanted it came into his head back in 2011. "I was thinking of new ways to engage with my audience and with a bit of serendipity and inspiration the cake was born. It was inspired by an Autoerotique music video, an artist on Dim Mak, that made a great music video where cakes exploded in people’s faces as they blew out the candles. I woke up with the idea of caking someone while playing that song to help promote the video," Aoki explained.

He claimed that his fans even saved their shirts smeared with cake like a "badge of honor" and that element of his shows quickly gained popularity amongst his hardcore fans. "In the end, all these props are tools of expression," Aoki continued, talking about his excellent aim while throwing the cake. "I always do my best to try and avoid anyone that does not want the cake. The way I pick who gets caked is generally by who shows me the most energy and is screaming for it. The cake is about celebration. When you see fans begging to be caked and how happy they are afterward, it’s like scoring a touchdown. The whole place erupts and joins in that happiness."

For Aoki, these tools of expression are all about amplifying the energy and enthusiasm in the crowd he is entertaining. "In the end, my goal as a DJ is to make people feel something significant, something that they will remember," he shares. "This is my expression. This is my way. So the question is, do I sacrifice all that? When I perform, I don’t think about the haters, the trolls on the internet or anyone anywhere else in the world. All I care about is the person in front of me, and I want to make that moment important and something special."

In the end, Aoki clarified that he wanted to give context to people who do not understand the cakeing ritual at his shows and he wanted to share his feelings with all the haters and fans alike. "I want to make that connection so powerful, something that will never be forgotten. When I see the person who was begging for the cake then get covered in frosting as the crowd roars, smiling from ear to ear, it’s a unique and incredibly exciting feeling for myself, for them and for the crowd. I love being part of that energy, being part of that feeling. The haters and internet trolls don’t get it. There is no context because they don’t understand where I’m coming from," Aoki concluded.