Over 30 years since forming, The Prodigy still sell out venues worldwide, here’s why their influence on dance music remains as strong as ever.

One of the biggest factors in The Prodigy’s longevity is how revolutionary their sound was in the 90s and still is today. The Prodigy influence on dance music is clear, as the music they released was unlike anything anyone had heard before and their style has remained unmatched. This has given their music a sound that is timeless and unmistakable. Even up to their last album in 2018 ‘No Tourists’ they were still breaking boundaries which they’re looking to continue to do with another album on the way.

The Prodigy changed the way artists could approach making music. Sampling was becoming a big part of music in the 90s but The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett took the concept to a whole new level. He’d pull samples from songs, speeches, movies, and would be able to bend them into something entirely new. A great example of this is his sampling of a sword fight in the film ‘Shaolin & Wu Tang’ which he transforms into a form of percussion for ‘Breathe.’ The creativity that The Prodigy had inspired countless artists who followed and made people realise the extent of what music could be.

Something that The Prodigy have always stood out for is their defiance of being boxed in by a genre. Their unique style blends punk, electro, metal, techno, and much more which has given them one of the worlds most diverse fanbases. If you go to a Prodigy concert you’ll see ravers in moshpits and metalheads pumping their fists to techno. The mixture of people who follow The Prodigy couldn’t be more eclectic, yet they all become united through the power of music.

This vast fanbase includes a myriad of the worlds biggest artists from all different genres. There’s of course plenty of artists in the world of electronic music who have cited The Prodigy as a huge inspiration including The Chemical Brothers, Carl Cox, Pendulum, and many more. However, their influence reaches beyond electronic music with the likes of Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, and Mel C all proclaiming their love for The Prodigy. Dave Grohl is an especially big fan who has said that he’s incredibly proud of the fact that The Prodigy sampled his former band Nirvana for ‘Voodoo People.’ Other huge artists who admired Liam Howlett’s production were Madonna and David Bowie who both requested for him to produce for them. On both occasions he declined.

But it’s at any electronic music festival where The Prodigy’s lasting influence becomes most evident as it’s impossible to avoid hearing their music in some form. Their iconic melodies from songs like ‘Voodoo People’ and ‘No Good (Start The Dance)’ get a huge response from crowds around the globe. Their music has been remixed and reworked countless times by countless artists into festival anthems that continue to echo around fields and stadiums to this day. Even those who are somehow unaware of The Prodigy will still recognise plenty of their music from hearing it at concerts and festivals.

Ultimately there’s one word that encapsulates why The Prodigy are still so successful today. Revolutionary. Their style is and always will be revolutionary which has inspired artists across different genres and different generations. Their reach to fanbases of all different types of music has spread their name far and wide and their unmistakable sound has kept drawing in new generations of fans. There will simply never be another band quite like The Prodigy.