Electronic dance music is unique as a genre in its unusual ability to marry melodic vocals with almost anything. Whether it be deep bass, massive kicks, earth shattering snares or wailing synth lines, when paired with these celestial voices, EDM becomes passionately emotive and meaningful. To spotlight these angelic voices in the choir, WhiteRaverRafting decided to put together a list of our 12 favorite vocalists.
1. Nadia Ali: ‘Carry Me’ – Morgan Page
Nadia Ali really is the “Queen of Clubs”, as she would say. Since she ventured into her solo career in 2005 she has single handedly topped the Billboard dance charts with tracks like ‘Pressure’ and ‘Fantasy’. Currently she is nominated for ‘World’s Best Female Artist’ at the World Music Awards and is teaming up with the biggest names in dance music including Armin Van Buuren, Avicii, Fedde le Grand and R3hab to continue her prowess. Her latest work with Morgan Page on ‘Carry Me’ is absolutely moving.
2. Emma Hewitt: ‘Waiting’ – Dash Berlin
The breathtaking feeling of hearing Emma Hewitt‘s voice live is indescribable. It is a phenomenon that luckily we did not lose to rock music as her career had originally began.
Before investing herself too much into becoming an Australian rock singer, Emma Hewitt quickly discovered her place at the throne of trance when her ethereal voice elicited collaborations from artists like Dash Berlin, Gareth Emery and Cosmic Gate. Today, she has been featured in some of the most beautiful music EDM has ever produced as a genre and in the hearts of fans she is an absolute muse.
3. Wynter Gordon – ‘Dirty Talk’
She claims she is no angel but her voice is certainly a heavenly being of its own. ‘Dirty Talk’, later remixed by Laidback Luke, was Wynter Gordon‘s first single on her first album ‘With The Music I Die’, the record went triple platinum. That has to be one of the most impressive debuts into dance music I’ve ever seen and I’m not surprised. With a voice like that she can talk dirty to me all day.
4. Jahan & Yasmine: Krewella – ‘Alive’
They might appear grungy and badass but deep down these girls are just a couple softies with voices to match. Jahan and Yasmine Yousef are two sisters equipped with a powerful set of pipes, when paired with Kris “Rain Man” Trindi’s production skill, they create an explosive formula for catchy vocal dubstep/electro.
After self releasing two EP’s in 2012 (‘Play Hard’ and ‘Play Harder’) and winning “Best Breakthough Artist” at the 2012 International Dance Music Awards, Billboard has declared that “Krewella will be huge this year” (2013). Their single ‘Alive’ has sat at the top of the charts and their latest collaboration with Nicky Romero on ‘Legacy’ is sure to follow in its footsteps. I can’t wait until they release their full length debut album.
5. Skylar Grey: ‘Room for Happiness’ – Kaskade
Skylar Grey is an incredible singer/songwriter whose talent knows no genre boundaries. Her voice conveys such hard-hitting emotion that it’s difficult for me to imagine any other singer on Kaskade’s ‘Room for Happiness’. You can almost hear the pain through her smile as she sings those powerful lyrics: “Don’t be fooled by your emptiness…“.
Outside of EDM, her powerful voice has also been featured on tracks like ‘Where’d You Go’ by Fort Minor and ‘Words I Never Said’ by Lupe Fiasco. To me she’ll always continue to breathe life into lyrics that truly touch the soul.
6. Eva Simons – ‘Take Over Control’ feat. Afrojack
This dutch singer/songwriter certainly met her match when the dirty dutch master himself, Afrojack, teamed up with her to write and produce ‘Take Over Control’ in 2010. Immediately following its release, the track was stapled to the top of the Billboard charts for six straight weeks and dance music fans could not get enough of its catchyness. I know it’s been years but I can bet if this song comes on, I will still feel the urge to turn up the bass and roll down the windows.
7. Ellie Goulding – ‘Lights’
Ellie Goulding’s heavenly vocals on ‘Lights’ made it the #1 single on the Billboard Pop Charts and the Billboard Top 100 in March of 2011. Then when Bassnectar remastered her track into a genius combination of deep bass and slammin’ beats, this song went viral in the EDM scene. I must have heard this every day in 2011 and I have to admit I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope she decides to collaborate with more dance producers soon.
8. Richard Bedford: Above & Beyond – ‘A Thing Called Love’
British singer, Richard Bedford, is the only male to be featured on our list but don’t be fooled, his voice is nothing short of his female associates. His work with Above and Beyond on ‘Sun and Moon’ made that track one of the greatest songs of all time according to Mixmag readers.
Naturally they chose to collaborate with him again on ‘A Thing Called Love’ and now he is one of the most recognized voices in trance music. Recently, Armin van Buuren has incorporated Bedford’s vocals into his latest album ‘Intense’ and I’m sure we can expect to hear him featured in dance music tracks for years to come.
9. Georgi Kay: ‘In My Mind’ – Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl (Axwell Remix)
When Axwell got his hands on Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl’s ‘In My Mind’, Georgi Kay became the voice that defined true ecstasy to millions of dance music fans across the globe. After months of planning, weeks of saving, days of travel, and hours of dancing, that moment when a song comes on that makes you forget everything is what we all wait for as EDM fans. For many, that song is ‘In My Mind’ and Georgi Kay’s voice is perfect for delivering that message to the masses.
10. Fiora: ‘Waiting For The Night’ – Armin Van Buuren
From the sound of her vocals on Armin van Buuren’s most recent album ‘Intense’, it comes as no surprise that Fiora Cutler was once a classically trained opera singer. In 2010 Armin featured her voice on ‘Breathe in Deep’ from his album ‘Mirage’ and since then she has been pursuing her solo career in EDM. She released two incredible yet relatively unkown albums in 2011, ‘Blue Muse’ and ‘Flyphoenixx’ – both of which she single handedly orchestrated.
Currently Fiora is venturing into the film industry, but I really hope she appears on some trance records in the future.
11. Amba Shepherd: ‘Apollo’ – Hardwell
Amba Shepherd may still be a stranger to some but she is no stranger to electronic dance music. Since teaming up with with Porter Robinson on ‘Vandalism’ over a year ago she has added Giuseppe Ottaviani, Ferry Corsten, Dyro and most recently Hardwell to her list of collaborators. Her voice is airy and majestic in a way that seamlessly correlates with the ebbs and flows in dance music without outstaging the producer’s orchestra of synths.
12. Nervo – ‘Like Home’ ft. Nicky Romero
Miriam and Olivia Nervo are two Australian beauties that were practically born for the limelight. At just 16 years old, the twins were already approached by established modeling agencies but fortunately for EDM fans their focus was always music. After being signed to Sony Records as soon as they graduated High School, the girls went on to write tracks for artists like the Pussycat Dolls and Ke$ha but finally struck Grammy gold when they co-wrote ‘When Love Takes Over’ with David Guetta.
Since then they’ve been flying solo and experiencing a huge amount of success producing tracks like the 2011 TomorrowLand anthem ‘The Way We See The World’ and perfoming on the mainstage at Ultra Music Festival in 2013.
Who are your favorite vocalists right now? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, or in a comment below.
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