The number one track in every DJ style

For each of the 20 styles on Digger Digger, we took the track found in the most recorded DJ sets. The biggest number belongs to "Adagio for Strings" by Tiësto, found in 1,086 recorded DJ sets, and "Cola" by CamelPhat & Elderbrook is number one in two styles at once. The list runs from an early 1990s house anthem to UK garage from July 2025.

How we count

Every track on the site shows how many recorded DJ sets it was found in, from public databases of DJ set tracklists such as set79. "Found in 448 recorded DJ sets" means 448 different sets: not sales, not streams. For each style we took the highest count in its crate, counted each track once and left out IDs (unreleased tracks). Counts are as of October 2026.

One track, two styles, and some close calls

"Cola" tops both Melodic House & Techno and Tech House, with the same 448 sets in each. The count belongs to the track, not to the style, so a record in two crates shows the same number in both. Others cross over too: "Children" tops Organic / Downtempo and comes second in Progressive House, and "London's On Fire" tops UK Garage and comes second in Bass House.

No style has an exact tie, but some races are close. In Hard Techno, "Kernkraft 400" leads "Last One at the Rave" by minimal violence by a single set, 366 to 365. In Afro House, "The Rapture Pt. III" is one set ahead of "Move" by Adam Port, Stryv & Malachiii. "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" beats "Children" in Progressive House by nine sets, 410 to 401.

The oldest and the newest

The oldest number one is "Show Me Love" by Robin S. It first came out in 1990, and the version DJs play, the StoneBridge remix, was a UK hit in 1993. Next come "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" by Underworld (1995) and "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation (1999). At the other end, three number ones came out in 2025: "NUEVAYoL" by Bad Bunny in January, "Can't Decide" by Max Dean, Luke Dean & Locky in May and "London's On Fire" in July. That is more than 30 years between the oldest and the newest.

Classics against new hits

Six of the 20 number ones came out before 2010: the three above, "Adagio for Strings" (2004), "Feel The Vibe" by Axwell (2005) and "FTS" by Showtek (2007). Eight came out in 2023 or later, from Afro House and Amapiano to Drum & Bass and UK Garage. The other six styles are topped by tracks from 2016 to 2021, such as "Apollo" (2016) in Techno.

House, trance, progressive house, hard techno, big room and hardstyle crown records DJs have played for close to 20 years or more, and an old track has had more years to pile up sets. Scenes that live on fresh releases crown recent hits. Some new number ones are old songs in new clothes: "Get Busy (Odd Mob Club Mix)" is a 2024 club version of a song from Sean Paul's 2002 album Dutty Rock.

The biggest and smallest numbers

"Adagio for Strings" is the biggest number one, found in more than three times as many sets as the next trance track, "The Sound of Goodbye (Armin's Tribal Feel Mix)" by Armin van Buuren (321 sets). "Show Me Love" comes second with 820. The smallest number one is "Ilanga" in Amapiano, found in 54 recorded DJ sets.

A low number does not mean a less loved track. It mostly shows how many of a scene's sets get tracklisted. In Afro House, only 40 tracks in a crate of more than 200 carry a set count at all, and in Amapiano 83 of about 160. In the other styles, 145 to 207 tracks carry one. So compare a track with its own style, not with another: 89 sets is a huge number in Afro House, where the counts start at 5.

Six number ones up close

• "Adagio for Strings" by Tiësto. A trance version of Samuel Barber's classical piece, first on Tiësto's 2004 album Just Be. As a single it reached No. 37 in the UK in April 2005. DJs keep it because the strings are a melody the whole room knows.
• "Show Me Love" by Robin S. The 1990 original went almost unnoticed. StoneBridge told DJ Mag that the famous organ riff began as a bassline: he clicked to the next preset on his Korg M1 synth, "Organ 2", and liked it. His remix reached No. 6 in the UK in April 1993.
• "Cola" by CamelPhat & Elderbrook. Released by Defected in June 2017, it was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the Grammy Awards in 2018. At 122 BPM (beats per minute), with one vocal hook, it fits a house set and a melodic one.
• "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" by Underworld. First released in May 1995, it reached No. 2 in the UK in July 1996, after the film Trainspotting put it in its soundtrack.
• "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation. Florian Senfter released it in 1999. Its lead and bass sounds come from a SidStation, a synth built on the Commodore 64 computer's sound chip, and Sound On Sound noted the melody echoes David Whittaker's music for the game Lazy Jones. It reached No. 2 in the UK in 2000 and became a stadium chant.
• "NUEVAYoL" by Bad Bunny. The opening track of his album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, out January 5, 2025. It starts with a sample of "Un Verano en Nueva York" by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, a salsa classic.

How to use a number one

A number one is a safe peak moment: the crowd knows it, and it has worked in more recorded sets than anything else in its style. The catch is that everyone has it. If you open for a big DJ, leave these for the headliner, as our guide to opening for a big DJ explains. Later in the night, check that nobody before you played it already.

Use the count as a map. The top of a crate shows what everyone plays. A little further down are tracks with the same sound that fewer DJs reach for. Our post on hidden gems big DJs play digs into those, and how to find what DJs play shows how to follow tracklists yourself.

Open any crate from the All styles page to see the full list for your style, or start with the must-have tracks.

Sources: Digger Digger style data (set counts as of October 2026), Deezer release data, Official Charts, DJ Mag, Recording Academy, Sound On Sound, Remezcla.