DJ Mag Top 100 DJ’s of 2011

Posted on Oct 20, 2011 in News

DJ Mag released their rankings of the top 100 DJ’s today and the winner is…..(Drum Roll)……David Guetta. Congratulations to Guetta for unseating the multiple time reigning champion Armin Van Buuren. “I’ve had amazing success as a producer, but I always saw myself first of all as a DJ,” Guetta says, “So in the same way that I made a double album where one disc is pop and the other electronic, it’s also very important for me. As much as I want to speak to a wider audience, I still want to speak to my original audience – the clubbers, party people and the DJs. Those who encouraged me, and are my roots.”

It’s been 10 years since a non-trance DJ won the voting. Rounding out the top 10 are:

1. David Guetta
2. Armin van Buuren
3. Tiesto
4. Deadmau5
5. Above & Beyond
6. Avicii
7. Afrojack
8. Dash Berlin
9. Markus Shulz
10. Swedish House Mafia

See the entire list on DJ Mag

The Newcomers:
I’m certainly happy to see Avicii and Afrojack cruising into the 6 and 7 spots. They certainly don’t have as many years in the game as the rest of the top 10, but I expect them to each reach the number one ranking during their careers. Skrillex made his debut at number 19 and is one of only two artists that I would consider dubstep DJ’s, Nero being the other at 88. Skrillex is also the highest ranked American DJ. Hardwell and Arty jumped in at 24 and 25 respectively. Alesso is number 70 and Porter Robinson is 96.

The American DJ’s:
Kaskade is number 30. Steve Aoki is 42 and Wolfgang Gartner is 56. “For America, this is a very exciting time,” Says Kaskade, “It’s always been an underground thing but now it’s hitting the mass population it’s wild to see, especially for guys who’ve been around for a while like me. We never thought it would happen!” I’m happy to see American DJ’s climbing the rankings, but I hoped we would be a little better at getting out and voting, after all this is America.

One of my favorites, Dada Life, is number 38 after an awesome year. I’m honestly a little surprised that Swedish House Mafia wasn’t higher considering how people are absolutely dying to see them. They are generally the number one set to not miss on everyone’s list at every festival they play. What do you think?

My nomination for song of the year:

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Nadia Ali, Starkillers, & Alex Kenji – Pressure (Alesso Remix)