It looks like every year Drum & Bass Arena Awards are getting more and more hype. And this is just right. On one hand some of the best music of 2017 was totally ignored during last year’s voting but on the other hand some quality music won – let’s mention Mosaic album from Camo & Krooked as an example.

I believe I can use again fenomenal Tweet from Ninja Ninja.

Categories stayed the same from the last year. You can find my review of Drum & Bass Arena Awards 2017 here.

For this year I have just one general comment that some finalist tracks, albums, videos, etc. were released earlier then last 12 months. And I don’t like very much the new ‘8 bit’ design 🙂

So this is my vote this year:

 

 

Best DJ: DJ Marky

Again and again and again. Please this year, finally… He deserves it so much. Happy to see Randall and S.P.Y among finalists.

 

Best Producer: Break

Ohh come on, some of the finalists even didn’t produce very much in 2018. And I really think that LSB should win this category by far this year, big soul in his production. Alix Perez is sounding really great this year, but I will go for Break, I really looking forward to his new album.

 

Best Newcomer: Monty

Hard to pick. Degs, Benny L, Unglued, all huge talents. But I vote for Monty, his Hypnotize EP was so great.

 

Best MC: DRS

Same like last year. I have changed my view on DRS quite a lot during last few years. And he has continued to deliver perfect collaborations throughout 2018. Big up!

 

Best Vocalist: Charli Brix

Where is Collette Warren, Jenna G, Tali. Yes Tali was working quite hard in 2018, many beautiful tunes… So it must be Charli Brix, just check all her collaborations in 2018, amazing!

 

Best Club Night: Hospitality

Hospitality continues to deliver high standard club nights with huge portfolio of artists and every time when Tony comes, it just a bonus 😉 Yes they are growing really big, but still there is some spirit of old hospital parties. Hospitality in the park must have been huge!

 

Best Festival: Sun and Bass

This year I was not able to attend many festivals, last review is from Let It Roll festival (review here) and it was fun! But somehow I still have great memories from Sun and Bass in my heart and I will definitely go there next year. Miss you quite a lot Sun and Bass, here you have my vote…

 

Best Track: Potshot – LSB

Just 4 of 10 finalist tracks were featured in Music Intelligence podcasts in 2018, so you can imagine how much of good music is missing in this category 🙂 At least here I vote for LSB. Big up to Degs, Alix and Spectrasoul for their nomination.

 

Best Album: Lost In Thoughts – Pola & Bryson

To be honest I had lot of disappointments with albums in 2018. I don’t want to name, some of them are finalists. My vote in 1. round was Empire State Remixes from Blu Mar Ten, such a great album. Here I can pick from Pola & Bryson and Calibre. And it is Pola & Bryson.

 

Best Label: V Recordings

Wow, last year finalists were all my favourite labels, this year is quite different. I vote for V Recordings, which includes little bit of Liquid V as well for me.

 

Best Remix: Black and White (Signal remix) – Camo and Krooked

So so happy to see remix of Black and White from Signal and it is my vote. Original from Camo and Krooked is awesome, remix is great,  Tasha Baxter on vocal is insane!!! Big up to Unglued (lots of memories with If We Ever) and Calibre for remixes as well.

 

Best Music Video: Poveglia – Degs

No, Drum & Bass is not the best genre for music videos 🙂 We just don’t really need it. But anyway Poveglia is great track, thank you Degs. And with all this blue background, maybe we can ask George Lucas to add some more action to the video 🙂

 

Best Newcomer Label: DIVIDID

Definitely RSTLSSNSS should win this in my opinion. Such a great start for a label. But DIVIVID did a great job as well.

 

Don’t forget you will always find the best D&B selection every months in Music Intelligence Podcast!

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