Chart DJs That Should Resurface In 2017?
Words: Matt Mode
March 27, 2017

Each and every year there’s always a new DJ who makes a catchy song that charts globally around the world. Some stay and continue to release chart hit after chart hit, such as David Guetta, Martin Solveig, and Calvin Harris. Then, there are others who appear out of nowhere and then never quite manage to hold on to their popularity and soon disappear all over again.

But if there’s anything that Martin Garrix, The Chainsmokers, Tiësto, and Daft Punk have shown to us, it’s that DJs can return with another chart sensational hit. It is possible for DJs to completely resurface and quickly become popular all over again. Many DJs have proven this over the years, but what about the ones who haven’t?

We really think that the following DJs could make a complete U-turn and return as one of the world’s top DJs.

Fedde Le Grand

First up is the DJ that gave us the hits “Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit”, “Let Me Think About It”, and “The Creeps”; it’s Fedde Le Grand. He hasn’t released another hit since, although he has been releasing music. He released his fourth studio album last year and has been remixing some top songs over the past few years. He has also been touring around the world. Yet, what we really need is another full-out hit track that will make him popular all over again, one that will guarantee his return in the music world.

Basshunter

What about Sweden’s Jonas Altberg, or popularly known as Basshunter? He fully hit it big in 2006 with his Swedish songs “Boten Anna” and “Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA”; but then decided to create English versions of the songs, titled “Now You’re Gone” and “All I Ever Wanted” respectively, which were big global successes. His English-language songs had continuing music videos which featured Aylar Lie and Lucas Thornheim, creating a movie-like visual. He has been doing club tours around various countries for the past few years, but hasn’t released a song since 2013 and hasn’t had a chart hit in the years previous, either. Can he make a full-on comeback? He could easily resurface; maybe go back to his roots, maybe collaborate with a well-known singer like he has been promising for the past few years. What we really want is another video that continues the Jonas Altberg, Aylar Lie, and Lucas Thornheim love-triangle.

Sidney Samson

Another DJ we haven’t heard much from since he’s massive hit is Sidney Samson. He hit it big with his song “Riverside”, which was later, re-released with a UK remix featuring Wizard Sleeve called “Riverside (Let’s Go)”. He married pop singer Eva Simons in 2014, and the duo have collaborated on a couple of tracks including the single “Celebrate the Rain”. The Dutch DJ could easily make a comeback if he really promotes and finds that hit we’re all waiting for.

DJ Manian and DJ Yanou (Cascada)

Then there are the DJs behind Cascada, who are DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. Both have had hits away from the trio group which also consists of vocalist Natalie Horler. Manian had hits with “Heaven”, “Welcome To The Club”, and “Don’t Stop Dancing”; whereas Yanou had a UK number one hit with “Heaven”. Collectively, the two DJs formed R.I.O. which has had various hit songs but most notably had success with “Turn This Club Around” which featured U-Jean. They have been releasing various songs as the trio, Cascada, and even represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. They can totally make a comeback as either themselves or with Cascada or as R.I.O., their future potential is incredible. If they’ve managed to achieve all this in their past, then they can certainly resurface onto everyone’s radars once again.

Nils Van Zandt

Let’s not forget about Nils Van Zandt. He’s one iconic DJ that everyone kind of knows, but we’re never quite sure why. He has had hits with Sharon Doorson on track “Feel Like Dancing” as well as “In Need Of Love” featuring Lynn Larouge & Stress Dollaz, which was a complete dancefloor filler. He’s just finishing up his Partycrasher 2017 tour and has many gigs coming up in the next few months in France, Mexico, and Belgium. He’s pretty popular in France at the moment, but he can so resurface as an international DJ this year.

Mischa Daniels

Mischa Daniels is another DJ that needs to completely resurface internationally. He’s had a few hits with his songs “Take Me Higher” and “Where You Wanna Go”, the latter of which featured J-Son. If there’s one DJ on this list that has pushed himself globally, it’s Mischa Daniels. He has performed in countries all over the world and yet has not had a worldwide hit recently. His 2006 song “Take Me Higher” has been revamped in 2017 by Erick Morillo, who Mischa Daniels claims is an inspiration to him. Mischa Daniels is ready for a worldwide impact, it’s only a matter of time.

NERVO

Another artist on Armada Music Records, with their own imprint, is NERVO. They’re a female DJ duo who has had success in 2011-2014. They are still one of the most iconic female DJ duos around but they haven’t quite been as successful in recent years; however, with their own label imprint and therefore more control over their own music, could they already have a future hit amongst their recordings? They have just finished up their In Your Arms USA tour, and are set to play at some of the biggest festivals this year, they may still be going and putting in the hard work, but they need another hit song, and we’re sure it’ll push them into international success, once again.

Darren Styles

Since starting this article, we’ve been wondering whatever happened to the forever popular Darren Styles. He has been going for years and he still is, that’s what we like to see. Could he resurface with a complete hit? He sure can, if Tiësto can do it, if Daft Punk can do it, why can’t Darren Styles do it? He had hits in 2004 with “You’re Shining” and in 2005 with “Heartbeatz”, both as collaborative duo, Styles & Breeze, before collaborating with Ultrabeat to create the awesome hit “Discolights”; and let’s not forget the brilliant songs “Girls Like You”, “Save Me”, “Right by Your Side”, and “Holding On”. He just releases hits after hits after hits, regardless of whether they chart internationally or not. Now we need him to fully return with another awesome tune that will entice us to go to his DJ sets this year.

Avicii

Lastly, we just had to include this DJ. He has recently gone off everyone’s radar as he took some time out of music, but he recently confirmed a new album will be released this year. Yes, Avicii will be resurfacing in 2017. Already one of the top DJs in the world, Avicii is a name everybody knows who previously released songs under Tim Berg and Tim Bergling. He last released an album in 2015, titled “Stories”, that underperformed on worldwide charts; it never quite gained the popularity of his debut album “True”. Regardless, he is still one of the defining DJs in the world. Last year, he decided to retire from touring at the age of 26, citing health problems being his major concern. This much-needed break could’ve allowed him to collect his thoughts and become healthy again; giving him time to create the best album we’ve had from him so far. Avicii’s future will always be bright, and we hope that he’ll resurface with a complete banger of a tune, just like every other DJ does.

There are plenty of other DJs in the world who are ready to resurface and make a worldwide impact once again. We see 2017 being that kind of year and we’re excited to see who returns to the limelight.

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