It’s the time of year again, where we take stock of the year just gone, and look forward to the year ahead. And one of the big things for DJs is to look back at what the biggest hitters were in their crates, and on the dancefloors.

Every year, we publish end of year charts for each genre, so here’s a quick round-up of what you can find there!

First up – hip-hop/R&B, which is probably the most popular genre on Heavy Hits, despite the massive boom in dance music, and the forward march of reggaeton around the globe!

The most downloaded track was No Guidance, no doubt a consequence of it being a collab between two of the biggest stars in the world, Drake & Chris Brown. Closely following this was Young Thug’s The London, again with a big support cast (this time J.Cole and Travis Scott). Drake reappears at #3 with Rick Ross, before the top female entry – Megan Thee Stallion. City Girls weren’t far behind, after a big year for them. Interestingly, 5 of the top 6 tracks sit around the 90-100bpm area – there definitely seems to have been a move back towards these mid-tempo areas.

https://www.heavyhits.com/playlist/hip-hop-rb-top-downloads-2019/

Over to pop – it’s been a huge year for Lizzo, and her track Truth Hurts tops this chart. Lil Nas X follows with his smash hit Old Town Road. Then we have another big collab – the UK’s Ed Sheeran and Canada’s Justin Bieber, doing a little bit to chip away at the American dominance of these charts so far! Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes all feature high up in the pop chart, with the quirkier pop of Billie Eilish further down.

https://www.heavyhits.com/playlist/pop-top-40-top-downloads-2019/

On to Electronic / Dance – Major Lazer’s golden touch remained in place, with the high-energy Que Calor doing the business. The brilliant DJ BrainDeaD & Dutty Nation remix of Serani’s No Games proved a huge hit with the pool. In fact, remixes seem to be the most popular items here – beefed up flips of familiar tracks are always welcome in any DJ’s crates!

https://www.heavyhits.com/playlist/electronic-dance-top-downloads-2019/

Latin sounds, in particular reggaeton, have been exploding globally in recent years, so the latin chart is a very popular resource for the DJs looking to stay on top of that scene. Bad Bunny & Tainy top the chart with the very laid back Callaita, with hit-machine DJ Snake following up with Loco Contigo ft J Balvin (who also stars on Que Calor, he’s doing alright!). China borrows the melody from Shaggy’s It Wasn’t Me, while Con Calma goes for Snow’s Informer – everything is a remix of a sample of a cover of a homage these days! Black Eyed Peas seem to be hopping aboard the reggaeton bandwagon lately, with their track RITMO charting well here, and sampling classic dance track The Rhythm Of The Night.

https://www.heavyhits.com/playlist/latin-top-downloads-2019/

The international chart is topped by Davido ft Chris Brown – Blow My Mind. If reggaeton has had a good few years, this was the real breakout year of modern afrobeats, a genre that has been bubbling along in various forms for some time. Burna Boy features high, while Wiley’s huge hit Boasty takes #2 spot with help from Stefflon Don, Sean Paul & Idirs Elba, and Stormzy’s rise continues with Vossi Bop in at #3.

https://www.heavyhits.com/playlist/international-top-downloads-2019/

Finally we have Reggae/Dancehall, with Shenseea ft Tyga – Blessed taking the #1 spot. Two different versions of Koffee – Toast make the top 6. I heard one London DJ refer to the 2019 Notting Hill Carnival as the Toast vs Boasty derby, both tracks were HUGE in the UK through the summer, and around the world too it would seem. Vybz Kartel won’t let something minor like life imprisonment stop him making hits, and Konshens made the dancefloor move with Bad Man, which harked back to the legendary Bookshelf riddim.

https://www.heavyhits.com/playlist/dancehall-reggae-top-downloads-2019/