Each year since 2007, DJ Earworm (real name Jordan Roseman) has taken the biggest tunes of the year and combined them into one ultra-catchy, viral-ready mash-up called “The United State of Pop.”
This year, the challenge got even more involved: Instead of the top 25 tunes like in years’ past, Earworm would do a mash-up with 50 of the tunes that defined 2015.
The result is “50 Shades of Pop,” a five-minute jam that highlights everything from Justin Bieber to Drake. It’s no surprise that Taylor Swift, who ruled the charts all year with various tracks off 1989, sees many of her tunes as part of the megamix.
“I try to get a feel of what is in the zeitgeist,” he says about his process, which finds him using the Billboard charts for song selection. “Music has been going through a softer phase than it was a few years ago so there’s that return of adult contemporary. That’s maybe represented by the Ellie Goulding track, it’s very lush and soft. And then there’s sort of retro, uptempo dance stuff, and that’s represented by The Weeknd track.”
“It’s a more eclectic mix than it was five years ago,” he explains about the diversity of tunes that blew up the charts this year.
Artists featured in the huge mashup include Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, and many more and as for late-in-the-year showstopper Adele, of course she made the cut.
“It wouldn’t be a year in summary without her.”
The “50 Shades of Pop” mash-up debuted early on Wednesday & quickly rose to hit No. 4 on the on the real-time Billboard charts!
“50 Shades of Pop is a blend of everything that helped to define the musical pop culture lexicon in 2015.”
Remember 2015 in pop by listening to the latest “United States of Pop” mashup below, via Billboard:
