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Jordan Roseman (born March 25, 1982), known professionally as DJ Earworm, is an American mashup artist from
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, California, who has achieved recognition for his technically sophisticated, songwriting oriented music and video mashups. His annual “United State of Pop” mashup features the top 25 songs of the year, based in part on the ''Billboard''s Year-End Hot 100 chart, in one mix.


Biography

Roseman was born into a big family of musicians and raised in eastern Iowa and Evanston, Illinois. At the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, Roseman started as a physics major, before changing to music theory and computer science. Roseman started creating mashups in 2003, which he said "was a relatively unexplored art form," with most people doing "A vs. B mashups hat featuredan a cappella of one song and an instrumental of another." He began by using
ACID Pro Acid Pro (often stylized ACID) is a professional digital audio workstation (DAW) software program currently developed by Magix Software. It was originally called Acid pH1 and published by Sonic Foundry, later by Sony Creative Software as Acid P ...
, and after showing them to DJ Adrian at Club Bootie and receiving encouragement from him, Roseman created the moniker DJ Earworm ("
earworm An earworm, sometimes referred to as a brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or, most commonly after earworms, Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI), is a catchy and/or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person ...
" referencing a song that repeats uncontrollably in one's mind) and began releasing his mashups online. DJ Earworm's style involves gradually layering song samples over each other, which adds texture and builds momentum as a song progresses. In 2006, he published ''Audio Mashup Construction Kit'', a how-to manual for creating mashups. Earworm uses
Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Ableton Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool ...
and
Adobe Audition Adobe Audition is a digital audio workstation developed by Adobe Inc. featuring both a multitrack, non-destructive mix/edit environment and a destructive-approach waveform editing view. Origins Syntrillium Software was founded in the early 19 ...
to create his mashups and also DJs live with Ableton. For the videos that accompany his mashups, he uses
Final Cut Pro X Final Cut Pro is a series of non-linear editing, non-linear video editing software programs first developed by Macromedia, Macromedia Inc. and later Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro 10.6.4, runs on Macintosh, Mac computers power ...
. In 2010, Earworm started
VJing VJing (pronounced: ''VEE-JAY-ing'') is a broad designation for realtime visual performance. Characteristics of VJing are the creation or manipulation of imagery in realtime through technological mediation and for an audience, in synchronization ...
in his live sets. Earworm's "United State of Pop" videos from 2008, 2009 and 2010 were featured in a FACT exhibit titled, The Art of Pop Video, that ran from March–May 2013.


"United State of Pop" series

When creating the yearly mix, Earworm tries to find the top 25 songs from that year that represents the feeling of the year that he will use for the main track(s) in the song. He also takes into consideration if the songs he uses are "mixable" and are able to be transposed without taking away from it originally, to determine the amount of each he uses. Finally, he looks for an instrumental of a song to drive the mashup. To isolate each song for use in the mashup, Earworm looks for unmixed files from the studio on the internet or through connections. If those files are unavailable, he will process the full song with Adobe Audition or Prosoniq sonicWORX Isolate to isolate the vocals. Earworm's 2007 mashup, "United State of Pop", consisted of the top 25 songs of 2007 according to '' Billboard''. The song was based on the beat from "
Umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally use ...
", while using hooks from Fergie's two songs " Glamorous" and "
Fergalicious "Fergalicious" is a song recorded by American singer, songwriter and rapper Fergie for her debut studio album, '' The Dutchess'' (2006). The title is a portmanteau of ''Fergie'' and ''delicious''. It was written by Fergie and The Black Eyed Pea ...
". On December 25, 2008, DJ Earworm released his mix for the year, "Viva la Pop", prominently featuring
Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...
's song "
Viva la Vida "Viva la Vida" (, ; ) is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008). The lyrics to the song contain historical and Christian refe ...
" as the backing track. The mashup peaked at number 70 on ''Billboard''s now defunct
Pop 100 Airplay The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles sa ...
chart. DJ Earworm continued to release his yearly mashup, "Blame It on the Pop" in 2009, "Don't Stop the Pop" in 2010, "World Go Boom" in 2011. The sixth year-end mashup, titled "Shine Brighter", was released on December 18, 2012. The mashup was finished on December 15, 2012 and premiered on
Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It is the second mashup not to follow the year-end chart, due to the fact that Rihanna's "
We Found Love "We Found Love" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her sixth studio album, ''Talk That Talk'' (2011). Scottish DJ Calvin Harris wrote, produced, and features on the song, which also appears on his third album '' 18 Months'' (2012). "We F ...
" and
LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off or Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) are an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Le ...
's "
Sexy and I Know It "Sexy and I Know It" is a hit song by American duo LMFAO from their second studio album, '' Sorry for Party Rocking''. It was released as the third single from the album on September 16, 2011. The song was written by Stefan Kendal Gordy, GoonRoc ...
" both appeared on the chart, and they were both featured in last year's mashup. It used a combination of Kesha's "
Die Young "Die Young" is a song by American singer and songwriter Kesha. It was released on September 25, 2012, as the lead single from her second studio album, ''Warrior'' (2012). Kesha co-wrote the song with its producers, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, and ...
", Ellie Goulding's "
Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian singer-son ...
" and some whistles of Flo Rida's "
Whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...
" as the backing track. The seventh year-end mashup, titled "Living the Fantasy", was released on December 3, 2013. Earworm stated that this mix is "a little darker-themed" and considered making the mix a "no-frills ballad". He added that "The ballads seem to be a lot more present than they have been in many years, and the dance music is having less strong of a pull. And even the dance music that is there is more gentle, like obin Thicke's" Blurred Lines" and aft Punk's" Get Lucky", and not EDM bangers." On December 3, 2014, Earworm released 2014's mix, "Do What You Wanna Do". He said, "The thing that has been most notable in the past two or three years is the decline of
EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
. The "United State of Pop" became this dance track from '09 to '12, and then starting last year, there just wasn't enough in that genre to fully support it, so I went down-tempo. And this year, "
Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
", which was popular in January, is the only popular dance track I'm dealing with. It's definitely down-tempo, so you have to decide, how is this going to go? How am I going to maintain the energy levels while being true to the sound of the year?" The instrumentals for the track were composed of the drums from Jessie J's " Bang Bang", the percussion of
DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is an Algerian French music producer and DJ, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called "Turn Do ...
and
Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cr ...
's "
Turn Down for What "Turn Down for What" is a song by French DJ and record producer DJ Snake and American rapper Lil Jon released on December 18, 2013. The song and its viral music video popularized the use of the phrase. The song was particularly successful in Nort ...
", the horns from Jason Derulo's " Talk Dirty" and the piano hooks from A Great Big World's " Say Something". Earworm explained, "I would love the whole thing to be perfectly blended each time, but it also has to be digestible. Some years, it's a pretty straightforward instrumental from one source, but this year is the most blended instrumental I've been able to achieve yet." The ninth year-end mashup, titled "50 Shades of Pop", was released on December 2, 2015. For this release, Earworm used the top 50 songs of 2015 instead of the top 25 as in years past. Earworm felt that the mashup was "a more eclectic mix than it was five years ago", adding that "Music has been going through a softer phase than it was a few years ago so there's that return of adult contemporary" highlighted by "And then there's sort of retro, uptempo dance stuff" as seen with Ellie Goulding's " Love Me Like You Do". "And then there's sort of retro, uptempo dance stuff" represented by
The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...
. Upon its release, the mash-up hit number four on the ''Billboard'' + Twitter Trending 140 chart. 2016 saw the release of the tenth mashup, "Into Pieces". Earworm once again used 25 songs for the mix, which featured Calvin Harris and Rihanna's "
This Is What You Came For "This Is What You Came For" is a song by Scottish DJ Calvin Harris and Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on 29 April 2016, through Columbia Records and Westbury Road. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, initially credited with th ...
" as the foundation for the mashup. "How We Do"—Earworm's tenth mashup in the ''United State of Pop'' series, for 2017—once again featured a mash-up of 25 songs from the year, with "
Despacito "Despacito" (; "Slowly") is a song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper and singer Daddy Yankee as the lead single from Fonsi's 2019 studio album '' Vida''. Released on January 12, 2017, the song was written by Fonsi ...
" serving as the basis of the track. In 2018, he released "Turnin' it Up", featuring a mashup of 25 songs, including Dua Lipa's "
New Rules "New Rules" is a song by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa from her eponymous debut studio album (2017). The song was written by Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren and Ian Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick also handled the production and offered it to Lipa ...
", Ariana Grande's " No Tears Left to Cry",
Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-born American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in ...
's " Never Be the Same", and more. In 2019, "Run Away" became Earworm's twelfth mashup in his ''United State of Pop'' series, with Panic! at the Disco's " High Hopes",
Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is als ...
, Halsey and
Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.
's " Eastside" and
Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...
's " Good as Hell" featured among the 25 songs. In 2020, Earworm's United State of Pop came back with "Something to Believe In", with The Weeknd's "
Blinding Lights "Blinding Lights" is a song by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on November 29, 2019, through XO and Republic Records, as the second single from his fourth studio album, '' After Hours'' (2020). The song was written and produced by ...
" as the basis of the track, alongside 24 other songs. In 2021, "Strawberry Ice Cream" was released, with
Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition in the late 2010s with her lead roles on the Disney television programs '' Bizaardvark'' and '' High School Musical: The Musi ...
's
Deja Vu Deja or Dejah may refer to: * Deja News, an archive of messages posted to Usenet discussion groups and its successor ''deja.com'' * Andreas Deja (born 1957), German animator * Dejah Mulipola (born 1998), American softball player * Dejah Thoris, a ...
as the basis of the track, with 24 other songs also included. In 2022, "I Want Music" was released, again featuring 25 hits, with multiple songs by
Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", w ...
and Harry Styles making the mix.


"SummerMash" series

In July 2013, DJ Earworm released "SummerMash '13" featuring a mashup of popular songs from mid-2013 that embody "the spirit of summer 2013". Earworm released another summer mix in August 2014, "SummerMash '14". The mashup uses the synths from Calvin Harris' " Summer" as the main beat, and verses from Maroon 5's "
Maps A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
", 5 Seconds of Summer's "
She Looks So Perfect "She Looks So Perfect" is a song by Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer, taken from their self-titled debut album, '' 5 Seconds of Summer'' (2014). The song was digitally released in Australia on 23 February 2014 and in Europe on 23 ...
", and
Magic! Magic! (stylized in all uppercase) is a Canadian reggae fusion band based in Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of lead vocalist, guitarist/producer Nasri Atweh, guitarist/keyboardist Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer, and bassist Ben Spivak. Active ...
's "
Rude Rudeness (also called effrontery) is a display of actual or perceived disrespect by not complying with the social norms or etiquette of a group or culture. These norms have been established as the essential boundaries of normally accepted beha ...
". Earworm returned for his third "SummerMash" in 2015, with tracks like
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
's " Bad Blood", Maroon 5's " This Summer" and
Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...
and
Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song videos uploaded to YouTube. Puth initially signed with the record label eleveneleven after p ...
's "
See You Again "See You Again" is a song by American rapper and singer Wiz Khalifa featuring fellow American singer Charlie Puth. It was commissioned for the soundtrack of the 2015 film ''Furious 7'' as a tribute to actor Paul Walker, who died in a single-ve ...
" (soundtrack to the 2015 film '' Fast & Furious 7'') featured in the mashup. In 2016, "SummerMash '16" became Earworm's fourth project in this series, with Justin Timberlake's "
Can't Stop the Feeling! "Can't Stop the Feeling!" is a song recorded by American singer Justin Timberlake. It was released on May 6, 2016, as the lead single of the soundtrack to the film '' Trolls'' (2016), in which Timberlake voiced the character "Branch" and served a ...
" (soundtrack to the 2016 film ''
Trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
'') used as the sound of the mashup, with songs like
Mike Posner Michael Robert Henrion Posner ( ; born February 12, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.For Posner's full name, see He released his debut album, ''31 Minutes to Takeoff'', in 2010. The album includes the US ''Billboar ...
's "
I Took a Pill in Ibiza "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" (also known by its censored title "In Ibiza" or its clean title "I Took a Plane to Ibiza") is a song by American singer Mike Posner. The song was originally acoustic guitar-based and released digitally as a single in th ...
" and
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...
's "
One Dance "One Dance" is a song by Canadian rapper and singer Drake from his fourth studio album '' Views'' (2016). It features guest vocals from Nigerian afrobeats artist WizKid and British singer Kyla. The artists co-wrote the dancehall and afrobeats so ...
" featuring in the mashup. In 2017, Earworm released his fifth and final "Summermash" before its two-year hiatus with French Montana and Swae Lee's " Unforgettable" as the soundtrack before returning in 2020 with his sixth "SummerMash 2020".


Official mashups

In December 2013, Earworm created the music used in the 2013
YouTube Rewind ''YouTube Rewind'' (stylized as ''YouTube ЯEWIND'') was an annual video series produced and created by YouTube and Portal A Interactive from 2010 to 2019. The videos were an overview and a recap of each year's viral videos, events, trends, an ...
video. He returned again for the 2014 edition. In May 2014, Earworm released "Mash Up for What" featuring Jason Derulo's " Talk Dirty", Pharrell Williams's " Happy", and
DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is an Algerian French music producer and DJ, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called "Turn Do ...
and
Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cr ...
's "
Turn Down for What "Turn Down for What" is a song by French DJ and record producer DJ Snake and American rapper Lil Jon released on December 18, 2013. The song and its viral music video popularized the use of the phrase. The song was particularly successful in Nort ...
". Also in May 2014, in conjunction with an American Heart Association's CPR campaign, Earworm released "Hands-Only CPR Mash-up", designed to run at 100 beats per minute, the rate at which chest compressions in hands–only CPR should be performed.


Collaborations

In 2010, Earworm created a mashup based on Enrique Iglesias's hit, “ I Like It”, for the
Champions League Twenty20 The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, was an annual international Twenty20 Cricket competition played between qualifying domestic teams from some major cricketing nations. The competition was launched in 2008 with the f ...
showpiece event. Earworm was asked again to make another mashup in 2012.


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earworm, Dj Living people University of Illinois alumni DJs from San Francisco American house musicians American mashup artists 1982 births 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American male musicians