After nearly 30 years of service, the music industry’s favorite robots retired their helmets in 2021. Daft Punk was an electronic music duo that emerged from the French house music scene in the 1990s. The pair was easily identifiable by their signature sequined suits and shiny robot helmets meant to disguise the identities of musicians Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, the central collaborators of the group. Those helmets serve as a primary example of how the group redefined collaboration within the music industry.
In an interview with Billboard after the group split, Bangalter said, “Daft Punk was a project that blurred the line between reality and fiction with these robot characters.” That statement represents the band’s theoretical application of collaboration, combining two polar opposite themes to enhance their sound and story. The group's costumes and futuristic sound brought their fictional personas into real life, changing the way audiences could relate to and perceive a musician. In addition, the group promoted collaboration in a traditional sense.
Daft Punk featured numerous artists while recording its vast discography, from The Weeknd to Julian Casablancas of The Strokes to Pharrell Williams. The duo’s standing as an electronic group allowed featured artists to vocalize over their iconic rhythms, creating an even greater sense of partnership between the primary and featured artists and expanding what a musical collaboration can look like.
In an interview with Variety, Abel Tesfaye, known professionally as The Weeknd, said, “They’re very strategic, they’re very smart and they don’t attach themselves to anything they feel isn’t right.”
A contributor to one of Daft Punk’s most successful collaborations, The Weeknd represents a long list of artists who respect the strong style and talent of the duo. Looking beyond his professional relationship with the duo, the artist proudly places himself on an even longer list of Daft Punk fans across the world.
The group is largely credited with the popularization of dance music in North America, a genre which is, within itself, a collaboration. The combination of two artistic mediums within one musical group is the simplest example of its collaborative spirit. Daft Punk also crossed artistic borders by scoring the film "Tron: Legacy" in 2010, a further example of their accessibility across multiple artistic spheres.
Daft Punk also made itself accessible to a wide audience through yet another collaboration: within its own style. Initially a contributor to the French house scene, the duo made a name for themselves through their electronic music which also fused elements of disco, funk, rock and pop. All of these genres, in tandem with a nearly universal love for dance, gave Daft Punk a platform that reached audiences of many different subgroups and tastes. To this day, DJ sets are incomplete without a remix of “Around the World,” “One More Time” or “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”
In 2015, Rolling Stone published a list of the top 20 musical duos of all time, placing Daft Punk in the twelfth spot. During the group's lifespan, the two members marketed themselves through showmanship, talent and, above all, accessible music touched by the hands of many. The iconic electronic group influenced the underground and mainstream music industry unlike any other group in history, in part because they found a way to implement creative collaboration into every aspect of their work.
Sophia Rooksberry is a junior studying journalism. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Sophia know by tweeting her @sophiarooks_.
