EDM has only been a serious contender on the American pop playing field for a short time, but there seem to be a few rules for the genre as it pertains to chart success. One is that unlike the majority of the dance music that EDM grew out of, a track generally requires a vocalist to break with a pop audience. EDM producers being more beat-focused musicians, this usually means bringing in a guest singer, like Aloe Blacc on Avicii’s folksy “Wake Me Up!” or Rihanna on Calvin Harris’s “We Found Love,” which helped to throw open the doors to the Hot 100 for EDM and still remains the gold standard that crossover dance tracks aspire to.
Calvin Harris seems to be one of those, judging by his new single “Summer” which has been steadily climbing the Hot 100 over the past six weeks, currently sitting at a high point of number 26. Like his 2011 single “Feel So Close” he acts as both producer and lead vocalist. “Feel So Close” made it to number 12 on the Hot 100, which is two spots higher than where Moby’s “South Side” peaked in 2000.
