DJ Mag November 2021 (UK) - digital

An incredible 1.3 million dance music fans voted in the Top 100 DJs poll this year, and this issue we bring you the full results rundown of both the main poll and also the Alternative Top 100 DJs list. (See the reverse of this double-covered special for the latter.) We’ve profiled all the DJs, finding out about their first gigs back after lockdown and what they’ve been up to in the studio this year, and as you’ll probably have gathered by now, David Guetta has retained the No.1 spot, making him only the fourth DJ to win the Top 100 DJs poll three times or more. Meanwhile, Charlotte de Witte has kept her No.1 spot at the top of the Alternative Top 100 DJs chart, so it’s congratulations to both Charlotte and David, and to all DJs who have carried on creating and working it while the world recovers from the adverse effects of Covid.

Top 100 DJs is entirely a public vote, and this year the poll has continued to get slowly more diverse. DJ Mag has long encouraged people to remember the Black and LGBTQ+ origins of dance music and consider the whole global scene when casting votes — and think about gender equality too. This year there are 10 women in the Alternative Top 20, and more Black and non-Black POC artists joining the list means it’s the most racially diverse poll for years. There’s still a very long way to go, but these developments are another step in the right direction.

This year there are eight Chinese DJs who have placed in the Top 100, perhaps a reflection of our dedicated China voting platform now making up 15% of the overall votes, and how quickly China suppressed Covid and got back to club shows that chiefly featured homegrown DJs instead of international touring stars. See the analysis of this year’s results on page 38 for assorted stats about this year’s poll.

Carl Loben

Editor