DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2026: David Guetta wins a record sixth title, and where Africa’s DJs placed

The DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2026 results are out, and David Guetta is the World’s No. 1 DJ for a record sixth time. The French DJ was crowned live in Ibiza, and the poll, voted in 234 territories, also shows a clear shift towards house and techno. For African music fans, the bigger story is further down: Black Coffee climbs to No. 14 and Shimza enters the list for the first time. Here is what the poll says, and what it means.

By Editorial Team

What we know

• Guetta wins again (FACT). DJ Mag published the results on 7 October 2026. David Guetta is No. 1, his sixth win after 2011, 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2025, DJ Mag reports.
• A new record (FACT). Six wins puts Guetta ahead of Martin Garrix and Armin van Buuren, who have five each. Garrix stays at No. 2.
• Record turnout (FACT). DJ Mag says a record number of votes came in from 234 territories.
• Africa in the list (FACT). Black Coffee is No. 14, up three places, DJ Mag’s profile page shows. Shimza debuts at No. 75. South African radio station Kaya 959 reports that Nora En Pure, who was born in South Africa, is at No. 73.
• Revealed in Ibiza (FACT). For the second year in a row, the No. 1 was announced live at the [UNVRS] club in Ibiza, where Guetta played a two-hour headline set.

How the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2026 top 10 looks

Behind Guetta and Garrix, Italian DJ Anyma jumps seven places to No. 3, DJ Mag reports. Brazil’s Alok slips one place to No. 4, and the Belgian brothers Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike drop one place but remain the highest-placed group.

Belgian techno DJ Charlotte de Witte climbs to No. 6 and keeps her title as the World’s No. 1 Techno DJ. Armin van Buuren stays in the top 10 and is again named the World’s No. 1 Trance DJ. FISHER, the Australian DJ, takes the World’s No. 1 House DJ award.

DJ Mag points to Guetta’s year as the reason for his win. He played three sold-out shows at the Stade de France in Paris, which the magazine says sold more than 240,000 tickets in total, with guests including Black Coffee, Jennifer Lopez and Akon. He also holds two Ibiza residencies and will play London’s O2 in summer 2027.

A shift to house and techno

DJ Mag’s own analysis says 2026 looks like “a watershed year” for the poll. In the 2010s, big-room EDM dominated the list. This year, house and techno names are rising fast while some long-time EDM favourites slide down.

The numbers back that up. The UK’s Fred again.. rises 17 places to No. 16. John Summit (No. 24), Mau P (No. 55) and CHRIS STASSY (No. 59) each climb 22 places to share the Highest Climber title. UK house producer Josh Baker is the Highest New Entry at No. 40. Other new names include Prospa and Cloonee, Joseph Capriati, Sonny Fodera and Padre Guilherme, the Catholic priest whose melodic techno sets went viral.

Why Black Coffee and Shimza matter

Black Coffee has been Africa’s biggest name in dance music for years. In 2022 he won the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Subconsciously, a moment we include in our timeline of African winners at the Grammys, Oscars, Cannes and Emmys. DJ Mag’s profile credits him with taking Afro-house to a global audience and notes that his Black Coffee Weekender in Cape Town ran for a second time this year, with a third edition planned for 2027.

Shimza’s entry is the newer story. The Pretoria DJ plays Afro-house and Afro-tech, and DJ Mag says his profile has “soared” over the past year, helped by his Shimza & Co parties in Ibiza and a Song of the Year win at the Miami Electronic Dance Awards for “Fire Fire”. He released the Sunset in Pretoria EP in June.

Afro-house is not the same as Afrobeats or amapiano, even though fans often lump them together. Afro-house is a branch of house music with African rhythms and percussion, built for long DJ sets. Amapiano, also from South Africa, has a slower tempo and its signature log-drum bass. Our guide to Afrobeats, Afrobeat, Afropop and amapiano explains the differences.

How the poll works, and its limits

The Top 100 DJs is a public vote. Fans pick their favourites online, and DJ Mag says voters this year came from everywhere from Svalbard to Wallis and Futuna. In Africa, South Africa, Algeria and Morocco sent the most votes, according to the magazine.

That makes it a popularity poll, not a panel judgement on skill. DJs with large, organised fan bases can do very well, which is worth remembering when reading the rankings. DJ Mag also runs separate lists, such as its Top 100 Clubs, and gives genre titles such as No. 1 House DJ and No. 1 Techno DJ.

The voting also raises money. DJ Mag has again teamed up with Bridges for Music, a charity that runs a music academy in Langa, Cape Town. Every artist in this year’s list is being invited to sponsor the education of at least one young person there. Last year, 42 artists gave a combined £170,832, DJ Mag says.

What it means for Nigerian fans

The poll is dominated by European and American DJs, and Nigerian DJs remain far less visible in it than Nigerian singers are on global charts. That gap reflects how the two scenes grew. Nigerian pop spread worldwide through songs and streaming, while the Top 100 rewards DJs who tour clubs and festivals in Europe, Asia and the Americas. South Africa’s strong dance-music club scene has given its DJs a head start.

For anyone following African music abroad, the results show that Afro-house now has a firm place on the world’s biggest dance stages, next to the Afrobeats stars filling arenas and stadiums, such as Burna Boy, whose London and Paris bookings we covered in our report on his NFL Paris halftime show.

What happens next

• DJ Mag is publishing profiles of every DJ in the list on its website over the coming days.
• Guetta’s next major live date announced so far is London’s O2 in summer 2027.
• Black Coffee’s third Cape Town Weekender is due in 2027.
• Voting for the 2027 poll is expected to open next summer, if DJ Mag follows its usual calendar.

More music news: Music.

Photo credits: Featured image: David Guetta at the Latin Grammy gala in Seville, November 2023. Photo: Junta de Andalucía, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Source. In-article image: Shimza (left) and Black Coffee playing together, 2016. Photo: Andy Vuyo, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source.

Sources

• DJ Mag: David Guetta crowned The World’s No. 1 DJ in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs 2026 (7 Oct 2026)
• DJ Mag: Top 100 DJs 2026, record-breaking numbers vote (7 Oct 2026)
• DJ Mag: Black Coffee, No. 14, Top 100 DJs 2026
• DJ Mag: Shimza, No. 75, Top 100 DJs 2026
• Kaya 959: South African DJs make their mark on DJ Mag Top 100 (Oct 2026)