No Tears Left To Cry - Ariana Grande

tempo: 122 bpm

bpm range: 120 to 125 bpm

the dj's take: Still can't understand ~72% of what she sings. If you told me this was the latest single from one of those k-pop girl groups with some English jibberish mixed in, I'd probably believe it. Also kinda brings to mind Carry On My Wayward Son. Might make a fun mashup:



Anyway, you know the deal - get this in the rotation a.s.a.p.

Try mixing with:

One Kiss - Calvin Harris ft. Dua Lipa
Kids In Love - Kygo
Faking It - Calvin Harris ft. Kehlani, Lil Yachty
Instruction - Jax Jones ft. Demi Lovato
Supercut - Lorde
Hype - Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris
Shades of Grey - Oliver Heldens & Shaun Frank ft. Delaney Jane
Prayer In C - Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz
Right Round - Flo Rida

Intoxicated - Martin Solveig & GTA

Higher Place - Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike ft. NeYo

download or stream No Tears Left To Cry:

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No Diggity - Blackstreet ft. Dr. Dre, Queen Pen

tempo: 89 bpm

bpm range: 85 to 90 bpm

the dj's take: One of the most timeless and versatile tracks of the 90s. If your crowd isn't yelling out the chorus at some point, there's something wrong with them. Another reason to like No Diggity (via wikipedia):

Try mixing with:

Crying In The Club - Camila Cabello
Throw It In The Bag - Fabolous

Cheap Thrills - Sia

Ridin Solo - Jason Derulo

Take On Me (Kygo Remix) - a-ha

Should've Been Us - Tori Kelly

Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes

download or stream No Diggity:

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Chun-Li - Nicki Minaj

tempo: 97 bpm

bpm range: 95 to 100 bpm

the dj's take: Other than Dhalsim's stretchy arms, I think the most annoying move in Street Fighter II may be the Chun Li toe tap upside the head:



The video game equivalent of death by a thousand paper cuts. I miss the 90s.

As for the track, nothing too notable in the beat; standard club fare. Certainly worth a spin considering the artist and the buzz, at least in the short-term.

Try mixing with:

Plug Walk - Rich The Kid
Love Me Harder - Ariana Grande, The Weeknd
Como Antes - Yandel ft. Wisin
ILY2 - Charli XCX
Juicy - Notorious BIG
We Don't Talk Anymore - Charlie Puth & Selena Gomez
Shape Of You - Ed Sheeran
Roses - The Chainsmokers
Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty By Nature
Cool - Daya
Love Yourself - Justin Bieber
I'm Up - Omarion
STARVING - Hailee Steinfeld & Grey ft. Zedd
Rack City - Tyga
Touch - Nick Jonas
Going Back To Cali - Notorious BIG
Trillmatic - A$AP Mob
HeadBand - B.o.B
No Mediocre - T.I.
Sorry Not Sorry - Bryson Tiller

download or stream Chun-Li:

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Magenta Riddim - DJ Snake

tempo: 102 bpm

bpm range: 100 to 105 bpm

the dj's take: Outside of those 128 bpm edm tracks, this is probably the first instrumental-only track we've covered in awhile (unless you count the scatting). Strong Bollywood vibes, which could bring the house down in the right environment. Go to the 17:00 mark in this mix to hear how it could sound in the proper context:



Some other key-compatible tracks:

Freaky Friday - Lil Dicky ft. Chris Brown
Particula - Major Lazer
A Different Way - DJ Snake ft. Lauv
Let Me Go - Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso, Florida Georgia Line, watt
Goodies - Ciara
This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
The Cure - Lady Gaga
Stay - Zedd, Alessia Cara
Get Busy - Sean Paul
Work From Home - Fifth Harmony
Finesse - Bruno Mars
Body Moves - DNCE
That’s My Girl - Fifth Harmony
We Can (feat. Tory Lanez) - Kranium
#BDAY - Tank ft. Chris Brown, Siya, Sage The Gemini
I'm Sayin' - Omarion
Working For It - ZHU & Skrillex & THEY
Saved - Ty Dolla $ign ft. E-40
Not For Long - B.o.B ft. Trey Songz
Body Language - Kid Ink (feat. Usher & Tinashe)
Gust of Wind - Pharrell ft. Daft Punk
Bend Ova - Lil Jon
Recess - Skrillex
No Letting Go - Wayne Wonder
Hold Yuh - Gyptian
Children's Story - Slick Rick

download or stream Magenta Riddim:

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Beat Salad 103

Another pop mix, this time with the ingredients coming from this playlist. Made with Logic Pro X.

Bonus easter egg: one of the songs pops up in two separate spots. Tweet me if you noticed what it was.

The tracks (in order):

Freaky Friday - Lil Dicky ft. Chris Brown

Love Will Never Do (Without You) - Janet Jackson

This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan

Finesse (Remix) - Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B

Work From Home - Fifth Harmony

No Role Modelz - J. Cole

Stay - Zedd ft. Alessia Cara

Magenta Riddim - DJ Snake

Particula - Major Lazer & DJ Maphorisa ft. Nasty C, Ice Prince, Patoranking & Jidenna

Saved - Ty Dolla $ign ft. E-40

Goodies - Ciara ft. Petey Pablo

U Don't Have To Call - Usher

Gust of Wind - Pharrell Williams ft. Daft Punk

Let Me - ZAYN

tempo: 84 bpm

bpm range: 80 bpm to 85 bpm

the dj's take: This one feels like modern day yacht rock. Maybe we can just call it yacht pop. Easy on the ears as the ocean breeze musses your hair, although nothing beats a little Christopher Cross:



Some other key-compatible tracks to mix / mash up with:

Talk That Talk - Rihanna ft. Jay-Z
Call It What You Want - Taylor Swift
I'm Goin' In - Drake ft. Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy
Caught Their Eyes - Jay-Z ft. Frank Ocean
Side To Side - Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj
LA Confidential - Tory Lanez
Sure Thing - Miguel
Golden - Travie McCoy ft. Sia
No Sleep - Wiz Khalifa
Russian Roulette - Rihanna

download or stream Let Me:

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Barbie Tingz - Nicki Minaj

tempo: 102-103 bpm

bpm range: 100 to 105 bpm

the dj's take: Percussion has a little old school Run DMC Sucker MC's vibe, and when it gets a little lower, feels more like Busta Rhymes' Touch It. No real key here, since it's all drums / sound effects, so I'd try it out with just about any track between 100 to 105 bpm. Worth a spin, especially this weekend if you're breaking in some new music.

download or stream Barbie Tingz:

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Call Out My Name - The Weeknd

tempo: 45 bpm

bpm range: 40 bpm to 45 bpm, 45 bpm to 50 bpm

the dj's take: So at first I thought why should we go over this; unless you're dj'ing a 50 Shades of Grey viewing party or at a bondage parlor, this one's too much of a mood killer. But then you realize it's a hit, and we've got the technology to make it work, right? Maybe add your own 90 bpm drums for a remix or half-time into tracks like:

Plain Jane - A$AP Ferg
Feel Me Flow - Naughty By Nature
No Limit - G-Eazy ft. A$AP Rocky, Cardi B
Rude Boy - Rihanna
Izzo (H.O.V.A.) - Jay-Z
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys
Famous - Kanye West
Back to Back - Drake
Izzo (H.O.V.A.) - Jay-Z
Energy - Drake
The Black The Berry - Kendrick Lamar
Just A Dream - Nelly
Remember Me - T.I. ft. Mary J. Blige

download or stream Call Out My Name:

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Nice For What - Drake

tempo: 93-94 bpm

bpm range: 90 to 95 bpm

the dj's take: First Cardi B, now Drake - sounds like Ex-Factor is getting a workout. Little bit of a break at ~2:07, so that might slow the momentum momentarily. But overall, a good bounce; big initial buzz, and you should make this a regular part of the pop & hiphop rotation.

A few other key-compatible tracks:

Hurt You - The Weeknd
Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding
El Perdón - Nicky Jam, Enrique Iglesias
Closer - The Chainsmokers
Don't - Ed Sheeran
Ride Out - Kid Ink, Tyga, YG, Wale & Rich Homie Quan

download or stream Nice For What:

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itunes

She Bad - Cardi B ft. YG

tempo: 80 bpm

bpm range: 75 bpm to 80 bpm, 80 bpm to 85 bpm

the dj's take: I don't think I could dance to this, especially at my advanced age. But we all know the general demographic that beat is intended for, and that's the one you want on the floor. Lot of positive buzz - worth a spot in your next weekend set.

Some other key-compatible tracks:

Ghostface Killers - 21 Savage, Offset, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott
Countdown - Beyoncé
Clique - Kanye West, Jay-Z, Big Sean
Criminal - Natti Natasha x Ozuna
Black and Yellow - Wiz Khalifa
Learn To Let Go - Kesha
So Good - Zara Larsson ft. Ty Dolla $ign
On My Mind - Ellie Goulding
Bounce - 2 Chainz

download or stream She Bad:

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