The question this selection answers best isn't what sounds huge at midnight — it's what you open with. Jorja Smith's 'What's Done Is Done', at 101 BPM in Eb minor, is the obvious starting point: vocal, restrained, unhurried. From there, two natural ramps: Deft and COIDO's 'Pipe Up' at 112, or DJ Lag's 'NOPS' at 113 — the Durban gqom pioneer, on a cut born on the Mzansi Bass compilation Shannen SP curated for TraTraTrax. Either one leaves the set a step away from the 120-126 zone of 'FDBU', 'Ravers' or 'Maldad'.
The Ab minor chain
The body of the ride lives between 134 and 140 BPM, and that's where the keys do the dirty work. There's an Ab minor chain that practically mixes itself, ordered for the climb: 'Put That Banger On Next' by Ahadadream and Capo Lee (130), Sister Zo's remix of Scotia's 'Take, Release' (135) and 'Pressure' by Redlight, with Capo Lee again (136). Ahadadream, co-founder of More Time Records, is also represented by proxy: his label signs 'Face Lift' by Trim, H4RDY and DJ co.kr here. Another pairing served on a plate: Dedman's 'Front Room Rinsing' and Kaval's 'Lavawheel', both in Gb minor and a single BPM apart.
For the upper stretch there's an exact trio at 150 — Black Rave Culture's 'Jump on Da Floor', Kassian's 'Shell Dub' and Ivy Lab's 'El Reno' — with Freebot and Dj Fucci's 'EXTRAÑO LUGAR' as the ceiling at 155. And when it's time to come down without killing the floor, The Glitch Mob's 'NO CTRL' at 80 works as a halftime breather that, read in double time, drops the set right back where it was. A separate mention for 'Puro Mambo': Buraka Som Sistema's first new original in twelve years, part of Enchufada's twentieth-anniversary celebrations and, at 130 BPM, a perfect bridge between warm-up and the heavy block. Few festival charts arrive with the minute-by-minute this well solved.
Sources: RA · Wikipedia · DJ Mag · Público
