Vivacious vocals and bouncing beats were everywhere this year, with the more soulful end of the house spectrum finding a new generation of adoring fans in the UK, across Europe to festivals in Croatia, and in Africa as well as traditional heartlands in the USA. A strong channel back to the original New York house scene, the sound has really been going from strength to strength over past few years; it refuses to fade away.

Home to some of the most revered and respected DJs and producers in house music, the soulful scene is also the place that sees many internationally recognized singers crossover. From Jill Scott to Adeva via Faith Evans, the strength is in its funk-fuelled flavors and instrumental brilliance that draws people on the floor.

No matter what the current ‘on trend’ sound may be, the cream always rises to the top.









Another great year for the legendary David Morales, with the super-producer pushing out his contemporary soulful sound alongside a number of sublime Afro-inspired tracks. ‘Hela’ with Toshi on MoDef hit all the right notes on the world’s dancefloors this year, alongside ‘Esperanza’ with Luciano on Cadenza and his old school inspired re-rub of Robert Clivilles’ ‘Set Me Free’ on Nervous.









The Purple Music boss enjoyed a fantastic 12 months, with a series of sublime releases alongside the launch of his new sub-label – Purple Disco Records. Big tracks this year included his innovative disco slant on the Snap classic ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’, the superb ‘You Change My World’ featuring Marc Evans and the super-funky ‘It’s Alright’ with vocals from Lisa Millett, whilst his re-rub of Papik ‘Figli Delle Stelle’ was our favorite of his many remixes in 2017.





The Liberace of the soulful house scene had another spectacular year with non-stop hits over the last 12 months. His remix of ‘So Long Gone’ by Brian Power and Rebecca Scales started 2017 with a bang, and his reworkings of ‘Back 2 Love’ by Newman & Stephanie Cooke and ‘Perception’ by Groove Junkies – plus further output under his Spiritcatcher and One51 guises – maintained this high standard all year long.







UK musician Crackazat is one of the most intricate producers in the house music scene and he didn’t disappoint over the last 12 months. Big releases all year long on Local Talk, Z Records, Plastik People and Ovum cemented his place as the musician’s producers, with big tracks like ‘Proton Blue’, ‘Latican Boogie’ and ‘Sundial’ ending up in the boxes of Hot Toddy, Saison, Terry Hunter, Husky and many more. Big in the game.







Big tracks all year long from the Dope Man with epic releases throughout the past year. His label Dopewax went from strength to strength, pushing out heavyweight joints like ‘Piano Groove’ and ‘In Need’, but don’t sleep on his gold-standard remixes of Mike City & Faith Evans’ ‘When I Luv’ and Purple Disco Machine’s ‘Love For Day’. Kenny even had the honor of being Strictly Rhythm 900th release this year. The governor.







One of the most talented musicians in the house scene with his blend of keys and vocoder creating a truly unique soulful sound. A great year for the Swedish was topped with huge releases on Defected, Papa, Z and TR Records, like his remixes of Crystal Water’s ‘Testify’, Urban Sound Lab’s ‘Karma’ and Woody Bianchi’s ‘Keep Doin’ It’. Impeccable.









The soulful house connoisseur always knows to look out for Reel People releases, and this year was no exception. Their re-interpretation of the Sunshine Anderson classic ‘Heard It All Before’ was a huge hit, whilst ‘Purple Funk’ and their recent remix of David Federmann’s ‘Cherry Tree’ opened the hearts and minds of dancefloors across the globe.









Another sterling year for Sandy Rivera with a plethora of big tracks under his own name and the Kings of Tomorrow moniker. Standouts included the deep and moody ‘Try A Little Tenderness’ on Defected, his superb remix of Sonny Fodera’s ‘Caught Up’ on Soul Heaven Records and the 2017 update of his classic ‘Changes’ on deepvisionz.









One of the scene’s most legendary producers, DJ Spinna continued releasing serious heat over the past 12 months. His remix work was as sublime as ever, with his reworkings of Hallex M’s ‘Feeling’ on Groove Odyssey, The Foreign Exchange’s ‘Body on Makin Moves’ and Tony Momrelle’s ‘Love Me Again’ on Reel People Music scorching the dancefloors this year.









New York producer and keyboard whizz Raffa Scoccia aka Moon Rocket had a fantastic year with his superb tracks spanning various genres on Traxsource over the past 12 months. Big tracks included ‘Go’, ‘Situationship’ and ‘Another Dimension’ on Doomusic, plus a whole host of other firing releases on Soul Deluxe, MONOSIDE, MoBlack and Cut Rec Promos.









Oakland-based DJ/Producer David Harness enjoyed a string of big productions over the past 12 months with releases on Blaze Imprints, Makin Moves, Moulton Music, Nervous and Papa Records. His remix of Kevin Hedge’s ‘My Beat’ was a huge crossover hit with support from Karizma, Ralf Gum, Roger Sanchez and Joeski, while the recent Barry White influenced ’We Got It’ is a great way to end the year. Big album in the pipeline for next year too!







Straight Outta Sheffield and into our Top Ten is Nick Moss aka Groove Assassin. The Things May Change label boss and veteran UK producer enjoyed a prolific year, with big tracks on his own label like ‘No Drama’, ‘Baby Baby’, ‘Lonely’, ‘The Mothership’ and ‘Carried Away’. Non-stop floorfillers. Always on point.











Soulful house legend Terry Hunter needs no introduction, so let’s get straight down to business on another outstanding year for Chi-Town’s finest. With a consistent stream of huge releases on his own T’s Box label like ‘I Found Love’ ft. Kadesh, ‘Queen’ ft. Angie Fisher and ‘Circle of Life’ ft. Mya hitting all the right notes, it was his sublime remix of The Late Night Affair’s Luther-inspired ‘Still In Love’ that saw the likes of thatmanmonkz, Mr.V, Todd Terry and DJ Spen pay special homage to one of the great house music producers.





The classy British producer and DJ enjoyed a fantastic year, with his label Good Vibrations Music going from strength to strength. Big tracks on the imprint included ‘New World’ with Pete Simpson and Lem Springsteen, ‘Grow (After The Storm)’ with Dawn Williams and ‘It Can Be’ with Mr. V. Plus don’t sleep on his superb piano remix of Louie Vega & Vikter Duplaix’s ‘Gimme Some More’ on Vega Records.







The super-funky duo of Neil Pierce and Ziggy Funk make up Rhemi, who had a great year both in the studio and with their label Rhemi Music. The London based partnership enjoyed success with ‘Live Life Free’, ‘Beat Within’ and ‘Feel Me’, whilst their remixes of Louie Vega and Adeva’s ‘In The Morning’ saw big support from Joey Negro, DJ Spen and Terry Hunter to name just a few.









Baltimore bad-boy Karizma has got more hits under his belt than Omar Little from ‘The Wire’, and this year was no exception to the rule. Big tracks included ‘Work It Out’ on Lumberjacks In Hell – which ended up in front rooms throughout North America courtesy of a major TV advert – his remix of Shimza’s ‘Destino’, and the jazzy soulful goodness of ‘The Power’ which crossed over into the sets of Man Without a Clue, Kiko Navarro, Mark Di Meo and more. Always big in the game.







A big year for William Rodriquez III aka Reelsoul, with a string of big releases and the launch of his new label – Reelsoul Musik. His work with DJ Spen on ‘Heaven’ for Soul Heaven garnered support from Kenny Dope, DJ Spinna and Sean McCabe, with other prominent tracks including ‘Get Myself Together’ with Mr. V, ‘Found A Way’ with Sheila Ford and amazing remix of Rob Haye’s ‘To Be With You’ on Soulstice Music.







British DJ and producer Joey Negro has been a champion of the soulful house sound for decades, and it’s great to see him still at the top of his game in 2017. The Z Records label boss enjoyed great success this year with ‘You Know How to Love Me’, the new update of the classic ‘Must Be The Music’, ‘Won’t Let You Go’ and his reinterpretation of Atlantic Starr’s ‘Circles’, all on his own label Z Records. Legendary status unlocked.







Last year’s Soulful House Artist of the Year has enjoyed another superb 12 months with a slew of releases and remixes that really set the soulful scene on fire. ‘Set Me Free’ with Eric Kupper on Hysteria destroyed dancefloors across the globe, whilst ‘Can’t Let You Go’ with Loleatta Holloway secured Louie his sixth (!) Grammy nomination. With further highlights including re-rubs of the Sylvester classic ‘Dance (Disco Heat)’ and John Davis & The Monster Orchestra’s ‘Up Jumped The Devil’, we enjoyed another Master-ful year from one of the scene’s true pioneers.



