We’ll start with a simple question: What makes a good dance record?
According to x101Jamz.com creator Elevated Scott, a good dance record “must make you want to dance. Without even understanding it, the song must control your body and just make you want to move in sync to the beat.” Legendary turntable wizard DJ King Shameek says an essential ingredient today is “an up-tempo, heavy bottom track with a nice groove.
And with all the instrumental tracks that deejays are putting out, vocals with a melody that compliments the track can only help.” Renowned mix master DJ Jamad says every memorable dance song also “has a great chorus. People will request a song, although they don’t know the song title, and sing the hook for you if necessary.”
There was an explosion of great dance records in 2012, and many of those contained some or all of the characteristics Shameek, Jamad and Scott describe. As the world we occupy continued to surround us with social, economic and emotional challenges, up-tempo bottom-heavy tracks with memorable choruses helped us cope.
But of all the songs that made us move, which of them were the best?
Here are SoulTrain.com’s Top 10 Dance Tracks of 2012:
- (tie) “Fantastic Baby” Big Bang / “Gangnam Style” Psy
- “Let Me Love You” Ne-Yo
- “Beam Me Up” Cazzette
- “Scream” Usher
- “Pound the Alarm” Nicki Minaj
- “Greyhound” Swedish House Mafia
- “Scream & Shout” will.i.am featuring Britney Spears
- “Don’t Wake Me Up” Chris Brown
- “Wild Ones” Flo Rida featuring Sia
- “Live My Life” Far East Movement featuring Justin Bieber
“Katherine Waddell, host of online show This Needs to Be Said, feels a good dance record “has to make you head to the dance floor as soon it comes on.” “Gangnam Style”, an inescapable smash in 2012, did just that. Psy blindsided mainstream radio with his high-energy jam, leaving little room for doubt when time came to create this list. Only, his claim of #1 was not undisputed.
Psy’s fellow Korean pop stars BigBang hit dance floors like napalm with their vocally-rich “Fantastic Baby”. “Gangnam” surely won the popularity contest, while in many ways “Fantastic” is a better song. Ne-Yo’s pop/R&B/dance hybrid was a very, very close second.”
Source: @soultrain