It’s been two weeks since hundreds of thousands of beautiful people flocked to Miami to attend Ultra 2014. Most of them have probably recovered by now and are realizing that, yes, Ultra did in fact change their lives.

With all of the negative news surrounding Ultra this year, it has been easy to lose sight of the most important part of the festival: the music. Ultra brings in talent that is on par and surpasses every other major festival in the world. Touting a massive lineup of an astounding 224 performers, 81 of which made their first appearance at Ultra, the pressure to throw down your biggest and best is undeniable. But who did it best?

When listening to a set, I always look for variety; who is changing up the songs, playing new and unheard tracks, and bringing the energy. A huge factor in what makes a great Ultra set is the song selection, as artists are premiering new music and bringing their best energy and vibes. This piqued my curiosity, so I decided to do some research and the list of Most Songs in an Ultra Set was born.

10. Flosstradamus and Dillion Francis: 31

Coming in hot at your number 10 spot with 31 songs in their respective sets are the Mad Decent powerhouses Flosstradamus and Dillon Francis. Floss threw down at the Worldwide Stage on Saturday night, playing tunes like their classic “Roll Up,” and new song “Drop Top,” before closing with “Too Turnt Up” featuring Waka Flacka Flame. Their set brought the nasty trap and high energy we’ve come to expect from these guys.

Dill Fran closed out the Worldwide Stage after Floss with the kind of set that only Dillon can bring. Weird dolphin sounds, “I can’t believe its not butter” lyrics, and awesome moombahton. He kicked off the set with a “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” remix before premiering a ton of new stuff off his upcoming album, and of course mixing in classics like “I.D.G.A.F.O.S” and “Bootleg Fireworks (Rebirth).”

9. Diplo: 32

Sliding into the number nine spot is the king of twerk, Mr. Diplodocus. Diplo lit up the Main Stage on Friday afternoon as only he can, dropping booty shaking remixes and originals spanning the genres of moombahton, trap, and hip-hop. He opened with the twerk anthem “Express Yourself,” before getting very sexual with his remix of “Drunk n’ Love.” He continued inducing the dropping low of backsides before closing with “Earthquake,” an appropriate ending to his set.

8. Jack U: 33

Easily Ultra’s biggest deal this year, Jack U comes into the 8th spot with 33 songs in their eclectic mix. When I first heard that Skrillex and Diplo were playing back to back I was skeptical, but then quickly proven wrong. They managed to combine the dubstep flavor of Skrillex flawlessly with the ratchetivity that Diplo is famous for. The crowd was in hysterics while listening to songs by a slew of artists, crazy remixes, and tracks off the new Recess album. If I named all the tracks I liked we’d be here all day, and it’d be worth it.

7. Carnage: 35

Bouncing into our number seven spot is the Chipotle Gang ringleader, Carnage. He destroyed the Worldwide Stage on Friday night, closing out the first day with a bang. Always one to love the MC job, Carnage was on the mic hyping the crowd up before leveling them with festival trap. He brought remixes from Victor Niglio, LOUDPVCK, and gLAdiator, to name a few. When leaving the festival grounds that night, I’m sure everyone was talking about the closing song choice of his “Spaceman/I Can’t Stop,” remix, an appropriate mantra for the end of an unforgettable set. Lucky for them, they still had two more days to go.

6. GTA: 36 

The Worldwide Stage provided another amazing set Saturday evening with the genre-defying duo of GTA. Most well known for their hit collab with Diplo, “Boy oh Boy,” the audience had high expectations for GTA’s debut at Ultra, and they did not disappoint. They played 36 songs in their hour on stage, mixing everything from “I Like to Move it” over “Rattle,” to Phat Deuce’s “Axel Foley” over Munchi’s remix of “Go.” They were all over the decks, mixing and mashing like an Eastern European babushka over a bowl of potatoes, truly deserving of the number six spot.

5. Danny Avila: 38

A youngster approaches. Nineteen-year-old Danny Avila takes the number six slot with 38 tracks in his set. Avila’s set consisted of a lot of big room house, with tracks by Showtek, Sander Van Doorn, and DVVBS & Borgeous. He had the crowd jumping and flailing wildly as everyone took advantage of their last day of Ultra. I can only imagine what it’s like to be on that stage, controlling that many people before even reaching two decades in age.

2c. Borgore: 39

Starting the three way tie for second place with 39 songs is the Prince of the Turn Up, Borgore. He went from the Main Stage during the afternoon last year, to second to last before Carnage on the Worldwide Stage this year. He wasted no time getting the crowd going, opening with “That Lean,” going on to mix up and throw new stuff at the crowd, while still making time for his classics like “Legend” and closing with “Decisions.” Fun fact, Borgore played the “Animals” (Farm remix) during his set the day before Deadmau5 infamously did.

2b. DJ Snake: 39

Another Ultra newcomer, Frenchman DJ Snake threw down an impressive 39-track set during the pouring rain. Luckily, the attendees were shielded from the rain, but not from the onslaught of trap, hip-hop, and Whitney Houston that greeted their ears. He also provided classic tunes, like “Bird Machine,” and “Slow Down,” and his new song with Dill Fran “Get Low.” People were turning up as far as the eye could see, it was beautiful.

2a. Datsik: 39

Photo from 2013

Pulling up into the number two spot on a motorcycle spitting flames and powered by dubstep is Datsik. After getting in the ring with Zomboy for the title of “Heavyweight Dubstep Champion of the Weekend,” it was clear Datsik wasn’t pulling punches. He came out with nasty, heavy, “cover your ears like it’s a fire drill” dubstep, featuring the likes of Excision, Downlink, and 12th Planet. The second half of his set was more geared toward the trap-a-holic’s, with songs like “Ratchet” by Zeds Dead, and even sprinkling in some Busta Rhymes “Ante Up” over Koan Sound’s “Max Out.” The cherry on top of this face-melting hour was when he mellowed it out with his last song, Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” over RJD2’s “Ghostwriter.” It was a masterpiece.

1. MAKJ: 53

Finally, we finish off the list with the DJ who played the most tracks in their set at Ultra 2014. Coming in with a whopping 53 songs in just one hour is MAKJ. Going into making this list, I would never have bet my money on MAKJ. He even beat out last year’s winner Porter Robinson, who played 47 songs in his afternoon set. The man from Los Angeles threw around a ton of big room remixes, as well as some old school tracks like “The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre and House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” while also tossing in some original MAKJ edits to make it his own. The last 12 minutes did it for me, with “Freak,” “Heads Will Roll,” “Kernkraft 400,” “Everybody Put Your Hands in the Air” over “Countdown,” and then capping off this plethora of tracks with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

Besides MAKJ, I think the biggest surprise was the amount of performers, 9 out of 11, on this list who performed at the Worldwide Stage. The list also shows the amount of preparation that goes into throwing down at Ultra, as artists decide which songs to play, which transitions to work in, and how long to make their sets. There really is no electronic music festival like it.

Honorable mentions: TJR: 29, Blasterjaxxx: 29, Tiesto: 28

[Photo Credit: Rukes (1,11), AJR (9), worldredeye.com (7), usdubstep.biz (8), runthetrap.com (5),  Holy Ship (2), newsflash.blogspotmag.com (3,4), SR (10), blog.ae.com (6)]

---

Share On