This week we unveiled our year-end charts that reflect the tastes of our members who made their vote by downloading. If you check Billboard you might see songs like “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran, but not here. On our charts you will find what the DJs are playing on the dance floor, from exclusive edits to world premieres along with a mix of the songs that dominated in the clubs.

Hip Hop / R&B : Top Downloads 2018 (View)

Hip-hop continued its dominance of the music world in 2018 and Drake is still the king. Of these 25 tracks, Drake either has a song or is featured on one third of them. And “Nice for What” and “In My Feelings” didn’t even make the list. Cardi B was the second biggest hip-hop artist of the year with three entries here, including her smash “I Like It.” 6ix9ine (who has an equally strong presence on the latin chart) also had three. Sheck Wes’s “Mo Bamba” tops the list and love it or hate it, you can’t deny it’s popularity in 2018. The rest of the list is made up of trap hits with the exception of Bruno Mars and Cardi B’s “Finesse” remix and a couple other upbeat tracks like “Big Bank,” “Taste” and (depending on your taste) the filthy or funny club hit “I Love It” by Kanye West and Lil Pump.

Pop / Top 40 : Top Downloads 2018 (View)

Pop in 2018 continued to favor mid tempo tracks over traditionally latin drum patterns. Whether you call it moombahton or something else, you can hear this style in such tracks as “Goodbye,” and “Arms Around You.” In the other tracks you will hear trap, house and tropical influences. Calvin Harris had two tracks on the chart and “One Kiss” isn’t even included (it’s #1 on the Dance chart). He is still making interesting pop music in many different genres. A couple halloween tracks made the chart and so did the amazing remix of “Bum Bum Tam Tam” by Brazilian artist Mc Fioti.

Electronic / Dance : Top Downloads 2018 (View)

This chart really shows the tastes of our DJ subscribers. While some of the biggest 2018 dance tracks are included, there are a lot of remixes of non-dance tracks and classics. The chart starts with many DJs’ favorite track of the year “One Kiss” by Calvin Harris. Silk City’s “Electricity” and a remix of the smash “Body” by Loud Luxury are also represented. For the remixes of non-dance tracks, we have the LOTSO remix of “Boogie Wonderland” and JEKEY’s remix of “Bank Account” by 21 Savage. Among the classics there are “One More Time,” and of course “Levels” by Avicii who passed away earlier this year RIP.

Latin : Top Downloads 2018 (View)

We are possibly in the biggest Latin music movement ever in the United States and other non Spanish speaking countries. What may have started with Despacito, now has multiple Latin smash hits getting play on top 40 radio. This chart represents the biggest songs like “Taki Taki,” “Mia,” “Te Bote” and X. There are old school vibes shown in Daddy Yankee’s “Rompe” and of course multiple entries by Bad Bunny. I hear DJs complain that there are no tracks in the 100 bpm range anymore, or that party R&B is dead and if you feel that way then I suggest you listen to this playlist a few times, download these songs in your party crate and give them a try this weekend.

Reggae / Dancehall : Top Downloads 2018 (View)

The reggae chart is similar to the dance chat in that it shows our DJs’ downloading habits. While there are a good amount of current dancehall tracks here, there are also many commericial crossovers, remixes and old school cuts. Some of the most popular dancehall tracks were “Hard Drive” by Shensea, a breakout Jamaican star, “Bassline” by Konshens and “Hot Tool” by Aidonia who has a hit streak going. Afrobeats is still having a moment as shown by the #1 track “Way Too Fly” by rapper A Boogie featuring afrobeats superstar Davido and also “Soco” by Starboy.

International : Top Downloads 2018 (View)

The majority of this chart is made up of afrobeats and baile funk which really shows what is hot in the world now. Among the afrobeats tracks we have the chart-topper “Drogba” by Afro B, “Akwaaba” and also Davido’s “Fall” which got a lot of play on New York hip-hop radio this year. Baile Funk is represented by some older tracks such as “Elas Gostam” and “Bumbum Granada.”

No year in music review would be complete without a mix! Check out my Best Of 2018 Mix.

All the best in 2019!

-DJ BEN BOYLAN