Wondering who on earth Steve Aoki is? Why does Steve Aoki throw cake? And how to get caked by Steve Aoki? I’ve got it covered.

Ah, I couldn’t wait to write this article because it’s stupid as hell and I wanted to share my experience. So why does Steve Aoki throw cake and how do you get caked?

Well, back in 2015, I went to a local festival (by that point I loved EDM, but EDM festivals were relatively new to me). A guy got on stage and a woman with a baby went nuts holding a Cake me! sign. I remember looking at my partner and being like ‘wtf is all that about?’ About halfway through this guy started chucking giant cakes into the crowd. The whole crowd just went nuts, with cake flying everywhere. It was Steve Aoki – a mainstream EDM DJ.

Fast track to a year later and I set out to try and get caked myself, at no avail. I even got on my friend’s shoulders (who is almost 7ft tall) and started screaming continuously throughout a whole track. No luck. In 2018, I finally got caked at Neverland festival in the Netherlands (and it was pretty stinky, but I’ll get to that later). 

Why Does Steve Aoki Throw Cake Anyway?

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Steve Aoki explained that back in 2011 he was thinking of new and exciting things to incorporate into his shows. His friend on also on Dim Mak, had a great music video which showed exploding cakes hitting people in slow motion as they blew out the candles. Aoki then had the idea to promote the video, by caking someone to that song and that’s how it all began. The cake went viral and the audience loved it.

Aoki then produced a song called ‘Cake Face’ in 2015, which is always played when he throws the cake. He then told fans that he would only cake people at headline shows. This way the crowd knows what’s coming and can be ‘saved’ for his die-hard fans. He usually plays Cake Face at around the halfway mark in his sets and everyone just suddenly goes mad (it’s quite a catchy song actually). If you hear it, you know it’s coming.

Steve Aoki – Cake Me Song

Does Steve Aoki Still Throw Cake?

Yes! He used to do at a virtually every show, but now it’s only saved for his own shows or if he headlines. 

The cake hasn’t come without criticism and he has been sued in the past, so he’s got to be careful. However, he was known to doing this epic throw.

How to Get Caked by Steve Aoki (I Got Caked!)

1. Make a sign – it’s gotta be big, it’s gotta be bold and it’s gotta say ‘cake me!’ on it. It needs to stand out from everybody else’s and be big enough that he can read it on the stage.
2. Get to the front – standing at the back isn’t going to cut it. He can’t read your sign and he probably can’t throw the cake that far either. Somewhere within the first 5 rows and the very front is best. Try to stay central too, don’t stand right at the end, he probably won’t see you there.
3. Make some noise! – probably the most over-said 3 words that DJ’s ever say, but on this occasion it’s true. You need to catch his attention, so jump around, get onto someone’s shoulders and scream.
4. Try at smaller gatherings – It was the first year of Neverland, so the festival was pretty small at that point, so it’s much easier to do all of the things above. The hardest places will somewhere like Tomorrowland and his own shows (which I’ve also attended).

Getting Caked by Steve Aoki: What’s It Like to Get Caked by Steve Aoki?

It’s great and it tastes good, but it kind of hurts and I never got the smell out of my clothes. 

The stage was majorly raised at the festival where I got caked and the front barrier was quite far from the front of the stage, so his great throwing skills + gravity and it was a full-pelt hit in the face. All I can see is that I’m glad I had my sunglasses on haha! 

It was also great because once I was caked, there were only a few more songs and then the whole festival was over. So we walked back to the car and drove home. Despite this, I never got the smell out of my clothes or the car, so don’t get caked if you love the clothes you’re wearing! 

Tip: Small Headline Shows Are Best

At his own shows, most of the audience wants to get caked. At large headline shows, it’s hard to even get to the front to get noticed. But at smaller headline festivals, not many want to be caked and it’s much easier to be noticed.

Once people saw my sign, they actually let me go in front of them, so that was pretty sweet. The sign I made was also incredibly basic. I was waiting around in my car to attend the festival, so I popped to a shop to buy some items to make a sign. They had nothing, so I had to make do with buying a table mat and some duct tape and I cut out letters in the car using the tape. As you can imagine, it looked bloody ridiculous, but from way away, it didn’t look too shabby and it worked.