Dance
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It’s perhaps hard for all of us entrenched in the dance universe to bear in mind what a small world it ultimately is, statistically speaking. In the United States, dance and electronic music made up just 3.3% of total recorded music volume in 2021, which means that all of our efforts — all of our emails, all of our late nights and all of our sweat expelled on the dancefloor — are contributing to a scene that’s perhaps easy for other sectors to write off as humble, hard to see, “not the commercial juggernaut it once was.”
But inside it doesn’t feel that way, does it? Inside, it seems that new genres are developing, new markets are opening and new stars are breaking through while veterans are finding success in reinvention. Meanwhile, dance clubs and festivals are doing “amazingly well,” after an existentially fraught two years from which other realms of live events are still struggling to return. And when two of the biggest musical icons in pop history looked for reinvention this year, they came to clubland.
Indeed, while the commercial viability of dance music isn’t making waves like it did during the EDM heyday, the scene has in ways never felt healthier. The genre made an imprint in most realms of recorded music in 2022 — via fusion with sounds from pop to hip-hop to Latin, with creativity and quality at a high and with the sorely-needed diversification of the scene finally starting to happen — though with much work still to be done here and in relation to how we better protect the people and places in the scene that are its founders and foundation.
Driving it all, of course, was the music. It’s cliché at this point to say that dance/electronic is really just a blanket term for dozens and dozens of other genres — many of them wildly different and fairly laughable to compare — but that fact remains true, with this dizzying sonic taxonomy synthesizing a world that feels not just massive, but culturally significant and ultimately unstoppable.
These are our 50 favorite dance tracks of 2022.
Chris Lorenzo will serve as headliner for Monster Energy’s annual Up & Up College Festival series.
Launching in the spring of 2023, the series is meant to function like the Final Four college basketball tournament, with student ambassador teams representing more than 100 U.S. colleges leading marketing and influencer campaigns to rally their school to buy pre-sale tickets (with no date or location) to earn the opportunity to produce a festival with Chris Lorenzo.
The top six schools with the most pre-sale tickets after the 48-hour campaign score the opportunity to collaborate with Up & Up producers to produce a Chris Lorenzo show at a nearby venue. Previous winning schools include the University of Alabama, ASU, CU Boulder, Florida State, LSU, University of Oregon, Penn State, San Jose State and many others.
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The Up & Up series has happened annually since 2016 (except in the pandemic years), with previous headliners including TroyBoi, Alan Walker and Slushii. UK producer Lorenzo is a mainstay of the underground house scene and scored a pair of hits in 2022 with his remix of The Mama & The Papas’ “California Dreamin’” and his edit of J Balvin’s “In Da Getto.”
“Ever since I started touring North America, the whole college system has been a big part of my journey,” Lorenzo says. “Whether playing unofficial after parties or the official frat shows over the years, I’ve always loved the energy the crowds have. It reminds me of when I started DJing back in the UK. So, to be able to have 70 colleges in America pitch for me to come play and then actually get to play six huge shows will be a lot of fun. I’m excited to see who wins and then come and smash the shows for the fans.”
Beloved London nightclub fabric has enacted a lifetime ban on a guest who shared a video of a fellow attendee dancing inside the venue.
The clip, which was shared via Twitter on Monday alongside a caption reading “Yo I’ll never be going to fabric again after seeing this,” showed a minimally dressed attendee dancing freely inside the venue.
Fabric replied to the tweet saying, “Great, given this tweet, we’d prefer it if you didn’t come. Our club was built on the values of free expression and the freedom to dance and not be judged. We also have a No Photo Policy to protect our dancers’ privacy. Please do the right thing and remove this video.”
As of the publishing of this article, the video has not been taken down.
On Tuesday (Dec. 13), fabric tweeted an update saying, “Yesterday we were made aware of a Tweet circulating featuring a video of a dancer at the club. We have requested that due to the nature of the caption and the context in which it was taken, that the video be removed. The author has been given a lifetime ban.”
The club also shared its No Photo Policy, which bans all unauthorized photos and videos inside the club and states that “the policy is in place as a guidance – a statement on our mission to try and encourage our community to stay in the moment. Not taking photos or videos during a club event doesn’t just, we think, [create] a better vibe, but also gives privacy to fellow punters and to the artist playing who might not want to be in your photos or videos.”
Since opening in 1999, fabric has become one of the most well-respected clubs on London and beyond, having hosted all the greats of the DJ world. The venue narrowly avoided closure in 2016 after a “Save Fabric” campaign raised the necessary awareness and funds to help with legal fees after the venue’s license was revoked for a pair of drug-related deaths.
Yesterday we were made aware of a Tweet circulating featuring a video of a dancer at the club.We have requested that due to the nature of the caption and the context in which it was taken, that the video be removed. The author has been given a lifetime ban.— fabric (@fabriclondon) December 13, 2022
Thomas Wesley is riding his horse back into the collective consciousness.
In a video uploaded yesterday (Dec. 12) to TikTok, the producer sidles up to the check-in counter at a lavish hotel. “Checking in for Diplo?” the hotel concierge says. “No, this time it’s Thomas Wesley,” counters the artist. He then winks at the camera before the video cuts to a shot of him strutting down a hallway while putting on a white cowboy hat while a clip of what is presumably his forthcoming country crossover plays.
The clip’s caption notes that “Thomas Wesley is back in business” and IDs the song as “Wasted,” a project with Kodak Black and emerging outlaw country singer Koe Wetzel. No release date for the song has been announced.
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“Wasted” marks a return to country for Diplo, who released his debut album in the genre, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil, in 2020. The lead single from the album, the Morgan Wallen collaboration “Heartless,” spent 39 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 29. The album, which also included collaborations with Leon Bridges, Noah Cyrus, Cam, Zac Brown, Julia Michaels and more, spent 25 weeks on the Billboard 200, and peaked at No. 50.
“We’re reaching people without Nashville giving us the approval,” Diplo told Billboard of his work in the country genre in a 2020 cover story. “We don’t really need it. With streaming services, you don’t need to be on the radio. Country records go for, like, a year to reach the charts. I’m into that. I’m learning from that.”
Watch Diplo’s TikTok teasing his new song “Wasted” below.
The themes are heavy, but Soulwax is keeping the vibe light with their contributions to the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto Online: Los Santos Drug Wars.
A sprawling update to the game, out Tuesday (Dec. 13), is accompanied by a flurry of original compositions by artists including Soulwax. The duo’s work on the game includes “Autoclown,” a bouncy production by the Belgian electronic icons that mimics the psychedelic themes of the game itself. Hear an exclusive clip from this track below.
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“When Rockstar approached us to be a part of Grand Theft Auto V, we were really excited about the opportunity,” Soulwax tell Billboard in a joint statement. “We had such a great time making and selecting tracks for the original Soulwax FM that we ended up creating a ton of ideas that we couldn’t fit in the final mix. So when the team came to us again to work on GTA Online, we went back to those initial ideas and started shaping them into a new score for Los Santos Drug Wars.”
Soulwax FM refers to a radio station featured in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, with GTA developer Rockstar Games having heavily incorporated electronic music into the game over the years, with appearances, radio stations and soundtrack contributions by prestige artists including The Blessed Madonna and Moodymann. In 2021, the game Rocktstar Games also partnered with Ibiza-based club brand CircoLoco for its joint venture, CircoLoco Records.
“We’re so excited to be working with Soulwax again,” Ivan Pavlovich, vice president of music at Rockstar Games, tells Billboard. “Soulwax FM’s driving dance and left field lost gems have made it such a classic station, and their music is the perfect vibe for the wild, psychedelic experience that is Los Santos Drug Wars.”
Part two of Los Santos Drug Wars is set for release in early 2023.
As we collectively process yesterday’s season finale of The White Lotus — What happened between Ethan and Daphne on Isola Bella? Will Greg still inherit Tonya’s money? Did Cameron ever get his suitcase? — the show’s theme song has gotten a house remix from Los Angeles-based producer Enamour.
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On the edit, which you can listen to here, Enamour artist adds layers of percussion and a house bounce to the already hypnotically strange original, “Renaissance (Main Title Theme).” The remix extends the track to six and half minutes, making good use of the source material’s spooky turkey gobble vocals.
The Enamour remix has gotten rinsed by Mikey Lion, who played it during a set last weekend in Los Angeles. Forthcoming Enamour releases are coming via Factory 93, Anjuadeep, Days Like Nights.
The original White Lotus season two theme was composed by Cristobal Tapia De Veer, a Chilean-born Canadian film and television composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist who’s also worked on the scores for Utopia, Black Mirror and the first season of White Lotus, the theme song for which was a variation on that for season two.
For the second season, Tapia De Veer beefed up the theme’s beat and added some primal urgency to the shrieking vocals, with this original serving as something of a dance track in and of itself.
In related news, White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge took part in a conversation with Ariana Grande during which she credited the pop star for helping launch her recent career renaissance.
“I’m curious if you know that when people ask about how my life has changed … Yes, I got to do White Lotus, but I think it really started with you asking me to be in the ‘Thank U, Next”‘ video,” the actress told Grande as part of her Entertainment Weekly Entertainers of the Year cover story published today (Dec. 12).
“I mean, from there I got Promising Young Woman and this whole thing,” she continued. “You were sort of the instigator. I really believe that. I think if you hadn’t put me in ‘Thank U, Next’ and done that imitation, I don’t think I would be here where I am.”
Not even a power outage caused by a generator fire or an impending rainstorm could slow down Kx5 from taking over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.
Kx5 – a collaboration between Kaskade and Deadmau5 — did their second stadium show of the year in Los Angeles, following Kaskade’s inaugural public concert in July 2021 at the new SoFi Stadium, when Kaskade invited the Mau5 to open the show and the Kx5 project was first teased.
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The Coliseum concert, which Kx5 representatives say drew 46,220 fans, marks the biggest ticketed global dance event of 2022 for a headline artist, according to Billboard Boxscore.
The scheduled two-hour show was marred by a power outage to the stage around the midpoint that forced a nearly half-hour delay. When the duo retook the stage, Deadmau5 told the crowd that “a generator caught fire” and the duo poked fun at the power company. “A little fire is not going to stop a good time,” Deadmau5 said. “I’m actually kind of surprised how quickly we got that back up, considering.”
(Deadmau5 later posted an all-black screen on his Instagram, quipping that “here’s some footage of the stage production when the generator caught fire,” drawing a “hahahahahahahaha” from Kaskade.)
A spokesperson for Deadmau5 and Kx5 tells Billboard that the main generator powering the stage production “caught fire due to overheating, and due to safety reasons they had to wait until flames were put out before the backup generators kicked in.” (The spokesperson adds that the Coliseum allowed the duo to play past their curfew to complete the show.)
The temporary loss of power only impacted the stage production and had no effect on the rest of the venue, Kevin Daly, the Coliseum’s assistant general manager, tells Billboard.
The stadium show capped a year in which Kx5 released several singles together, including “Escape,” “Alive” and “Take Me High.” They plan to release an album together in 2023, a spokesperson confirms to Billboard.
Joel Zimmerman, the Toronto-based producer known as Deadmau5, and Ryan Raddon, the Chicago-born and LA-based Kaskade, have a long history of producing together, dating back to the 2008 dance hit “I Remember” and 2014’s “Move for Me,” songs that helped define the EDM explosion in the U.S. They also performed as Kx5 at this year’s Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.
Saturday’s event featured a mix of Kaskade and Deadmau5 hits, including “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” and “The Veldt,” and their Kx5 collaborations. It ended with an encore of “Escape,” the Kx5 track that topped the Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart in April. British singer Hayla emerged onstage in a glittering silver dress to sing along as fireworks burst from the top of the stage for nearly a full minute. A steady drizzle finally kicked in just as fans were exiting the venue.
Aside from their new musical productions, the duo’s onstage performance on Saturday showcased high-level production, including frequent fireworks and other pyrotechnics and several aerial drone-writing moments, including one depicting the entrance to the Coliseum and another of the outline of the state of California.
The production also leaned into elements of Deadmau5’s previous live appearances featuring the Cube v3 – which he designed and helped write code for — that have earned the Canadian DJ-producer a reputation as a live-event technical innovator. For the Kx5 show the duo took the stage atop separate cubes that moved side-to-side on tracks, spun 360 degrees and could elevate about 10 feet in the air. The cubes occasionally joined up together where the DJs could interact with each other and appear on camera together for the audience.
Saturday’s show also marked the first time that Kaskade had performed in the Coliseum since 2010, when he headlined the last Electric Daisy Carnival to be held in Los Angeles. The two-day festival was scarred by the death of 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez, who died of a suspected drug overdose after attending the event, leading Insomniac to move EDC to Las Vegas in 2011, after 13 years at the LA Coliseum.
“What was that, a gap of 12 years?” Deadmau5 asked Kaskade in Saturday’s waning minutes. “Holy shit.”
Princes of vibe Rüfüs Du Sol will host the second iteration of their Sundream festival this May 4-7 in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico, with a lineup featuring UK club powerhouse Michael Bibi, deep house veterans Tale of Us, live electronic favorite Monolink, a b2b from DJ Tennis and Carlita, along with both a live set and a DJ set from Rüfüs themselves. See the complete lineup below.
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Sundream 2023 moves from its original location in Tulum (where it launched earlier this year) to San Jose Del Cabo at the tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. The four-day fest will happen at El Ganzo Sculpture Gardens, a 12-acre park that houses a collection of large-scale sculptures by Mexican artists, along with thousands of cacti, succulents and palms from deserts around the world. The Garden and its nearby Crania space — which will also host performances over the weekend — are both adjacent to San Jose Del Cabo’s exceedingly hip hotel Hotel El Ganzo.
In addition to the cacti and music, organizers promise “wellness activities, art installations, intimate DJ sessions and live performances from some of the Grammy-winning band’s closest kin and inspirations,” with the lineup also featuring artists from the trio’s Rose Avenue imprint. Tickets and resort accommodations go on sale this Friday (Dec. 16).
Ahead of the festival, Rüfüs will attempt to win their second Grammy, with the trio this year nominated for both best dance/electronic album for their 2021 LP Surrender and best dance/electronic recording for their single “On My Knees.” The SoCal-based trio are the current reigning champions in this latter category, winning the Grammy in 2022 for their single “Alive.”
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A shining example of how one song can launch a career, Dutch producer Mau P hit the stratosphere in 2022 with his “Drugs From Amsterdam,” an omnipresent global club hit since its August release.
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Based on a simple conceptual premise — “Off my face, don’t know where I am/ ‘Cause I got my drugs from Amsterdam” — the sexy tech-house heater helped cement the ubiquity of the genre this year, while also making the 26-year-old producer born Maurits Westveen part of the global conversation. It also garnered him both a flurry of bookings, along with congratulatory DMs from scene titans like David Guetta and Tiësto.
Out via Lee Foss’ Repopulate Mars label, the song hit No. 1 on the Beatport overall chart shortly after its release, currently has 5.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams according to Luminate and is in its 11th week on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. It also gained additional momentum with a recently released edit from Dutch techno powerhouse Reinier Zonnefeld.
A producer since age 18, Westveen is gearing up to release his followup single in early 2023, and in the meantime will play some of his first U.S. shows over the holidays, with not one but two New Year’s Eve sets in Southern California (at Proper NYE in San Diego and Insomniac’s Countdown in San Bernardino), before a spring run of U.S. club shows — during which Mau P will surely demonstrate how music is the greatest controlled substance of all.
1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?
I’m in Amsterdam right now, working on lots of new music. The weather really sucks, but the vibes are still there.
2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?
I think it was either deadmau5‘s For Lack Of A Better Name or Stevie Wonder‘s Talking Book. Both albums were CDs, and I must have been 13 or 14 years old. I was just getting into dance music, but at the same time I was also super interested in the music that my parents listened to.
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you do for a living now?
Both of my parents are musicians actually. My dad was a saxophone player — he contributed to a lot of songs and played with many different live acts. Next to that he was a conductor and later on he mainly worked as an arranger. He met my mom at the conservatory where he taught music, at that time she actually was one of his students! She’s a wonderful singer and has been in a lot of different bands throughout her career.
Sadly, my dad passed away when I was 18, and he didn’t get to witness the things that I’ve achieved, but I still make all of my music in his recording studio. My mom thinks my dad would’ve been really proud. I know that she is.
4. What’s the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
I believe I bought a really expensive backpack for when I would go on tour; I was convinced that I’d make it as an artist and would need that bag. Funny thing, last month I actually got a new backpack because I needed a new one, as this first one started to fall apart.
5. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance music, what would you give them?
Wow, that’s tough. Just one? Daft Punk‘s Homework, Calvin Harris’s 18 Months, Disclosure‘s Settle and the deadmau5 album I mentioned earlier – the one that got me started. Oh and Skrillex’s Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
6. What’s the last song you listened to?
“SIZZLIN” by The Last Days Of Pompeii.
7. If you could go back in time to any era of dance music history, to when would you go and why?
2000s trance era for sure. I’d do anything to be in a crowd for a Tiësto set around that time.
8. “Drugs From Amsterdam” has been such a massive hit this year. What was the first moment that you knew you had a monster song on your hands?
Probably when I played it for the first time. I did a show at a club in London, and the crowd was really cool, so I decided to try it out. When I dropped it the whole place just turned upside down. After posting a video of that on my Instagram I started to get a lot of messages about it, and from there on the rollercoaster just never ended.
9. How has the song changed your life?
It opened up a lot of doors for me that I’ve been banging on for years. I’ve been making dance music since I was 18 — I’m 26 now — and I’ve always wondered how the big guys got to where they are. I was like, “Why is it not me?” or “What am I doing wrong?” I guess it’s all about finding your groove and your sound. I am now 100% inspired and comfortable in the music that I make and ready to give the world a lot more. It’s also so cool to see the big DJs and the whole dance music community support me. I feel like we’re all on a mission together to push the scene forward, and I’m super happy to be part of that.
10. What would the younger you think about what your life is like now?
He would be screaming and jumping around for sure.
11. What else do you love about Amsterdam, besides being able to get drugs there?
I love the people and of course all of my friends that live in the city. I love the energy and I specifically love the city at night.
12. In terms of controlled substances, which one is your favorite?
The ones from Amsterdam.
13. I know quite a few iconic DJs have hit you up looking to collaborate. Who’s your dream collaboration?
I’d love to work with Skrillex. I’ve been following him for so, so long, and trying to get a glimpse of his production techniques and the way he manipulates sounds. I’ve always felt like he’s been sent from another world to teach us how it’s really done.
14. What’s the best part about being a hugely popular DJ? The worst?
The best part is the feeling that DJing gives me. The feeling when I’m the one building the mood in a room through music. You’re the one taking everyone on a journey, and every time it’s a new challenge of how you’re going to do that.
The worst part probably is having to control your dopamine. You get so much attention from people mixed with adrenaline from actually being on stage. I’m happy that my first real hit song is happening after doing shows for a couple of years. You really need to be mentally strong and stable for this.
15. How do you plan to follow up “Drugs From Amsterdam”? Are you feeling any pressure, given that it’s such a huge track?
Sometimes I definitely feel the pressure, but I always come to the conclusion that the only way to move forward is to get into the studio and have fun. Stop thinking or worrying. Mess around and make new tunes. The follow up to “Drugs From Amsterdam,” “Gimme That Bounce’” was made in the exact same way. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I wasn’t trying to follow any rules. I was just in the moment creating something that I thought sounded really cool. I’ve been playing it in my sets for a while now and the response is insane, I can’t wait for it to be released early next year.
16. Have you gotten a chance to play much in the U.S. yet, and if so, how do U.S. audiences compare to European audiences?
Not really. Definitely not with this new sound that I’m doing right now, so I have yet to find out. I’m actually going to play Proper in San Diego during NYE. In February I’ll be back for my North America Tour, I’m really looking forward to that one. You can find me in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and a lot of other cities!
17. How do you unwind after a big show?
You don’t. You keep on partying.
18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?
Changed my name to Mau P.
19. Who’s been your greatest mentor, and what’s the best advice they gave you?
My dad. He taught me everything that I know about music until I was 18 years old. I don’t really have any best advice from him, but I made him a promise to one day get a gold record plaque for one of my songs so that I can hang it next to his.
20. One piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
Stop overthinking and just do whatever you think is cool.
Given how hard nightlife was hit during the pandemic, with many clubs closing permanently, industry insiders are pleasantly surprised with its 2022 comeback. JoJo Walker, director of programming at New York’s Avant Gardner and Brooklyn Mirage, attests that the industry is generally doing “amazingly well,” even though “it’s more challenging now than ever before.”
As clubs reopened amid the lingering pandemic in mid-2021, venues scrambled to get DJs back behind the decks to play for fans eager to return to dancefloors. “2021 was a free-for-all because everybody wanted to party,” says Walker. “People were willing to pay high ticket prices, and the wheel was being fed from all angles.” This competitive market boosted DJ fees, which in many cases increased up to 20% for club and festival sets. But now, fees remain lodged at these higher rates even as demand has declined, creating headaches for dance promoters who are also navigating inflation’s effects on nightlife.
“It’s not just that artists are being greedy,” says Walker, “but for them to do what they need to in terms of traveling and making a living, they need to have their costs covered: flights, hotels, cars. Those costs are being passed on to the promoter, and now there’s not a wealthy part of the wheel that can be taken from.” Walker adds that many DJs are touring less after enjoying the pandemic’s slowed pace, prompting agents to negotiate higher paychecks for the shows these artists do play.
Promoters have had to get creative in order to turn a profit. Walker is currently structuring artist deals that involve a lower flat rate and a per-ticket bonus, which incentivizes DJs to promote their shows, as their final rates are relative to those shows’ success. Given that she books for multiple venues, along with the annual 100,000-person electronic festival Electric Zoo (owned by Avant Gardner), Walker also has the dexterity to offer multishow contracts, creating an advantage over promoters booking a single room.
Brig Dauber, entertainment director at long-standing Los Angeles club Avalon, says the venue has “kept on step” with new fee expectations while working harder to determine which artists are most viable in the current market. This year, Avalon has skewed toward theme-based nights centered on certain genres and musical eras to “diversify the patronage and avoid the risk of not actualizing profit versus artist fee.”
But whether booking a tiny space or an 8,000-capacity club like Brooklyn Mirage, the surge in venue overhead is resulting in consumers having to deal with higher ticket prices to cover costs. Walker says fans “can’t necessarily afford to go out in the same way they used to, so they’re much more selective about the shows they do attend.” This scrupulousness has created a major increase in week-of and day-of ticket sales, which in turn fosters even less certainty among promoters.
And yet, Walker remains confident things are heading in the right direction. “I feel like among everyone working in the industry there’s a lot of optimism that this will balance out. It’s just going to take some time.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.