Larisha Paul
Contact Larisha Paul on X View all posts by Larisha Paul August 4, 2026
Rebecca Black performs at Diplo’s HonkyTonk during the 2026 Stagecoach Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 24, 2026 in Indio, California. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images The best DJs know how to read a room. It’s a delicate skill. One wrong drop, one song cut off before its best verse, or one bizarre tropical house remix of an R&B classic could kill the entire dance floor vibe. It could take five more songs before the audience’s trust is restored. In many cases, the Song of the Summer is often a break-in-case-of-emergency secret weapon.
The definitive pick may vary from set to set, from club to club, or from chart to chart. “I don’t know if there is an answer that means as much as it would have 10 years ago,” Rebecca Black says. But these songs share an ability to get bodies moving. Black’s recent set at Day Trip in Los Angeles called back to never-ending Brat days with Charli XCX’s “365,” but also included the Black Eyed Peas’ “The Time (Dirty Bit).” Meanwhile, DJ and producer Jacobdior has been filling his New York club nights with similarly expansive sets: Kehlani’s 2025 single “Folded” still has as much of a hold as Amerie’s 2005 hit “1 Thing.”
There are certain songs that are surging hard enough to define the season — even a few that have already been out for a year or two, or 14. Here, five DJs break down their picks for the Song of the Summer.
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Rebecca Black: Slayyyter, “Crank”
Image Credit: Sacha Lecca for Rolling Stone Rebecca Black has her finger on the pulse of pop just as Slayyyter keeps her finger on the trigger. It makes sense, then, that “Crank” is Black’s Song of the Summer pick. “From the beginning of spring when I played that in clubs to now, it feels like you’re seeing people not only embrace it when it plays but also embrace it as a culture,” she says. “That’s a post-Brat-ification thing that I think has also redefined what it means to really be a song of the summer.” Slayyyter’s Wor$t Girl in America single has roots offline as much as it does online. “There’s something to be said about a song that really bands people together more than just a song that you would hear all of the time,” Black says.
Honorable Mention: Zara Larsson, “Midnight Sun”
