'93 Til Infinity: A Look Back At DJ Mag's First Ever Top 100

On October 18, DJ Mag released their annual Top 100 list. Some were outraged by the results, some surprised, others delighted, and some just didn't give a fuck (which is sort of where we're at on this, incidentally). Things got way more interesting when, last week, British DJ and producer Bodyjack lit the Internet on fire with hi-resolution scans of the first ever DJ Mag Top 100—from 1993! As you can probably assume, a lot has changed since the inaugural edition of DJ Mag's global popularity contest, but you might be surprised at some of the differences. We took some notes to remind ourselves of how much has changed twenty years later.

WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN AT
This 1993 issue of DJ Mag appears to have four female selectors in its ranks—or so we can attempt to infer with these poorly-xeroxed gender-bent press photos. Do you know how many female acts ranked in this year's issue? Two. Do you know how many there were in last year's issue? None. Zero. Between 2007 and 2012, tech-house superstar Claudia Cazacu was the only woman to appear in the ranks, debuting at #93 in 2010. Not even Annie Mac, the BBC mainstay and Fabric regular made the cut in this year's list.

EVERYBODY WAS PLAYING SOMETHING CALLED "GARAGE"
Like… garage rock? I had to Google this one. Kidding, kidding—but sadly I'd wouldn't expect a majority of DJ Mag followers to have a handle on this swingin' sub-genre of house music. You see, there's US garage, which was named as such because of its roots in New York's infamous Paradise Garage club, where Larry Levan headed up the controls. It's sort of like any other strain of feel-good house, but with a particularly uplifting gospel bent. That stuff is old news. UK garage, however, is still alive and well—and it has since splintered into dubstep, grime, and the many other strains of bass music in the underground spectrum. But you don't see anyone playing "garage" in this year's Top 100.

WHITE WASH
This year's list is whiter than a white swan's tuchus. But as you can see for yourself, the DJ Top 100 didn't always resemble the line outside of a Reba McEntire concert. What the hell is going on here?

HIP-HOP AND TECHNO, TOGETHER  AS ONE
Dude. This Top 100 lists DJ Premiere, Jazzy Jeff, and Funkmaster Flex within the canon of techno, house, and trance greats. Mind you, this was a time when every rapper had to have at least one club-ready house beat on their albums, and when techno experimentalists were making hip-hop tempo breakbeat records. Sure, we now have trap to thank for once again blurring the lines between hip-hop and electronic dance music, but that sure as hell isn't reflected in this year's Top 100.

CARL COX
This smooth Brit is the only motherfucker bad enough to stay in the Top 100 two decades running. Has he ever not made the cut?

WE DON'T NEED NO NUMBER ONE!
Today it seems like everything is always about a list; a number one, a top three, a number sixty-four, the DJ who moved up three places then back down five places. Honestly, who cares? People can't seem to just enjoy the great music that's around them but instead need to place someone in a numbered spot that solidifies that someone's quest towards total world domination or inevitable failure. This was not the case in 1993. Hell no. Back then the savvy blokes at DJ Mag listed all of their acts alphabetically—an egalitarian solution to the difficult task of ranking one over another. Damn, I miss those days. Even though I was like two years old and probably drooling on myself.