The excitement around the real Olympic Games is at fever pitch, but let’s not forget Mixcloud‘s RadiOlympics, the first ever Olympic Games for DJs, radio stations and music fans. Just over a month ago we asked DJs of all nations to represent their countries by submitting entries to a RadiOlympics competition we ran called Funky Runner. We asked for the very best in funk and soul mixes, and we weren’t disappointed. The quality of entries was very high, but as with any Olympic competition, there can only be 3 winners: bronze, silver and gold.
After careful consideration by the WhoSampled team, it’s now time to announce the winners, and they are:
BRONZE: Fuzzed Out! by HeavySoulBrutha [USA]
HSB has a strong following on Mixcloud and not without good reason. We love neatly themed mixes and this selection of rocky funk nuggets is the perfect mixture of heavy rock influenced drum breaks and funky feeling grooves from some of the genre’s best known names.
SILVER: Funk-a-tone by ExtraFunkable [Poland]
This mix is a bit of an outsider in terms of plays and favorites, being a late entry in the race, but we were immediately grabbed by the track list which represents a very different side of funk to most of the other entries: Roger Troutman, Prince, D-Train and many of our other 80s Electro-Boogie favorites rub shoulders on this neatly mixed 25 minute boogie-thon!
GOLD: Kick the Habit by AME (Laid Back) [Belgium]
As the most listened to mix with over 200 favorites from the Mixcloud community, this was always going to be a strong contender. We’ve checked out AME’s mixes in the past and particularly enjoyed his Dilla sampled breaks mixes in the early days of Laid Back. This mix puts together a fantastic selection of less obvious break heavy funk gems in a tidily constructed mix that keeps momentum and flavour throughout.
Congratulations to the winners, you’ve done your countries proud! Big thanks to everyone who submitted their mixes, and everyone who listened!
You can keep track of the global RadiOlympics medal table here.
