As we begin the highly anticipated Miami Music Week its time to shed some light on not only the vast majority of talented producers out there but also their partners in crime. Yes, we’re talking about the vocalists!
One cannot deny the role vocalists have played in bridging the gap between pop and electronic music over the years as well as add more life to music in general. So today, instead of listing out the top DJing acts out there (which most of you already know) its time to signify some of electronic music’s most famous and profound vocalists!
Starting off with the ladies, here are the Top 5 female vocalists in electronic music.
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding is one of the most identified of all female singers in electronic music. Gaining popularity following her debut album, “Lights” in 2010 Ellie’s first electronic collaboration was with Skrillex in 2011 on his track “Summit” from his Bangarang EP. Thereafter Ellie went on to work with the likes of Zedd & Calvin Harris on their tracks, “Fall into the Sky” and “I Need Your Love” which both rose to the top of electronic charts. The artist is also known for her added vocals in Major Lazer’s hit track “Powerful” from their recent “Peace Is The Mission EP” as well as Calvin Harris’ “Outside” which happens to be one of my personal favourites.
Check out some of the above-mentioned tracks right here:
Amba Shepherd
Australian singer and songwriter, Amba is most notably recognized for her contribution to one of former world No1 DJ Hardwell’s biggest hits, “Apollo”. Hardwell & Amba’s success with “Apollo” took them to new heights. The vocalist was even named “The most relevant guest vocalist in EDM” by Elektro Mag in June 2013. Amba has also provided vocals for Hardwell’s latest album’s title track, “United We Are”. Besides Hardwell, Amba has also featured as a vocalist on tracks by Porter robinson, Dyro, Tom Swoon, Tiesto, Nervo, Deniz Koyu, Laidback Luke and many more electronic producers.
Here are some of her featured tracks:
Heather Bright (Bright Lights)
Heather Bright, also known by her stage name Bright Lights is an American singer and songwriter. Heather who initially had joined the Berkelee College of Music in 2001 to pursue a recording career, dropped out soon after to begin her career solo as a songwriter. Her first release as a featured artist on an electronic track came on Justin Michael’s track “Trouble”. She was even featured on Zedd’s “Stars Come Out” in 2011. That kickstarted her career as a recording artist as she featured on some hits tracks in 2012 such as Porter Robinson’s “Language”, Bingo Players’ “Don’t Blame The Party” and Zedd’s “Follow You Down”. Her most hyped EDM release came at the hands of Hardwell, when he premiered his new collaboration with Dyro “Never Say Goodbye” on the Ultra Mainstage. Heather has also collaborated with other Revealed artists such as 3Lau, Dannic and Thomas Gold.
Check out some of her tracks here:
Elliphant
Ellinor Miranda Salome Olovsdotter is a Swedish singer, songwriter and rapper who has been gaining popularity quite recently. Having released most of her music as a solo artist, Elliphant’s success can be attribute to some extent to her featured collaborations with certain artists. The Elliphant has been featured on several trap or bass tracks such as “Killa” with Skrillex & Wiwek, “Too Original” with Major Lazer and “Only Getting Younger” with Skrillex among others. Elliphant’s reggae-ish vocals have also been featured on David Guetta’s album “Listen” on the track “No Money No Love”. Her latest release “Spoon Me” with Skrillex has been off her own album, “Living Life Golden”
Here are some of Elliphant’s notable featured singles:
Zoë Johnston
British singer Zoë Johnston is most famously known for her contributions to some of Above & Beyond’s most memorable tracks. Having already worked with Faithless & Delirium, Zoë’s has written and performed for most of Above & Beyond’s singles requiring a female lead. Just a few of Zoeë’s tracks with the trance group have been mentioned here – “Good For Me”, “You Got To Go”, “Love Is Not Enough”, “We’re All We Need”. If anyone’s got the experience of working with producers and performing live with them, its Zoë.
Here are a few of her tracks including her live performances:
What a list! Now lets have a look at our pick of the Top 5 male vocalists in electronic music.
Matthew Koma
One of the most famous male vocalists in Electronic music, Matthew Koma, at the age of 28 has worked with over a dozen different DJs and producers, charting a path to success since he began in 2010. Koma’s early collaborations include work with Hardwell, Zedd, Sebastian Ingrosso, Alesso, Tiesto, Vicetone and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. His collaboration with Zedd has been his most notable accomplishment to date with their song “Spectrum” being premiered by Rolling Stone and spending two weeks at the number 1 spot on the Billboard Dance Club chart. Koma’s other hits include “Dare You” with Hardwell, “Wasted” with Tiesto and “Cannonball” with Showtek & Justin Prime. Its really hard to say you’ve been a fan of electronic music but never heard Matthew Koma’s voice.
Here are some of his best tracks:
John Martin
John Martin Lindström is a Swedish singer and songwriter most notably known for his tracks with the Swedish House Mafia. There isn’t much of an introduction required for this man; He’s the guy who sang Swedish House Mafia’s “Don’t You Worry Child” and “Save The World”. He performed the track “Reload” with Sebastian Ingrosso and Alesso and his latest contribution has been to Martin Garrix’s first release on his own label and his upcoming album’s first single, “Now That I’ve Found You”. John Martin has also lent his vocals to a Guetta track titled “Love Louder” that’s hasn’t yet quite seen the light of day (officially that is).
Check out some of John’s best work:
Richard Bedford
British singer and songwriter, Bedford is famously known for his contributions to Above & Beyond’s most successful tracks. The artist has performed on Above & Beyond’s “Alone Tonight”, “Sun & Moon”, “Thing Called Love” and more. He was even featured on Armin van Buuren’s “Intense” album on the track, “Love Never Came”. The artist was named best EDM vocalist in 2013 by theuntz.com and the No. 3 EDM vocalist by EDM.com in 2014.
Here are Bedford’s most notable tracks:
Pharrell Williams
Probably the most famous person on this list, Pharrell Williams is one of the few standalone artists who has made his name not by collaborating with electronic artists but by doing it solo as recording artist. Having collaborated with the who’s who of the music industry Pharrell falls on this list cos of a few very important reasons, the most notable reason being his contribution to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”. Pharrell lent his vocals to Daft Punk’s first single, “Get Lucky” off their long awaited album, “Random Access Memories”. Pharrell’s contribution not only won him a Grammy but also made him a favourite with the EDM elite. Pharrell has performed on Swedish House Mafia’s “One” as well as Axwell Ingrosso’s “Dream Bigger”. He even recorded a track with Major Lazer titled “Aerosol Can”.
Here are Pharrell’s EDM masterpieces:
Lil Jon
Now you’re probably wondering why Lil Jon’s on this list. Well believe it or not, but even yelling out a few lines to hype up the crowd is enough to change the momentum of a track and that’s exactly what Jonathan Smith aka Lil Jon does! Now you probably know him for his contribution to DJ Snake’s “Turn Down For What” but Lil Jon has been up in the EDM scene since long before that. Having worked with LMFAO on several tracks, Lil Jon has also worked with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike on their track “Madness” and Laidback Luke & Steve Aoki’s “Turbulence”. Lil Jon has also collaborated with Diplo, MAKJ, Alvaro and Mercer.
Check out some of the best hype lines you’ve ever heard:
That’s a wrap! These are out Top 10 vocalists in EDM at the present moment. Do your Top 10 make it to the list? If so, whom? Let us know below.
Khushrav’s passion for dance music started early on as he began creating weekly podcast episodes of the latest electronic music across genres and has mixed over 200 episodes over a span of 5years. As a dance music enthusiast, Khushrav still keeps up to date with every week’s releases, contributing to THE’s Spotify playlists.
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