Good reference tunes for DNB, hip hop, trap, house, and techno

Hi guys.

As a mixing and mastering engineer, I'm often asked about good reference songs, and here, I'm listing some good ones.
I'll keep this post short yet informative, because this month I'll be doing two exclusive videos for you:
1) how to reference efficiently and
2) how to set up your own mastering project in your DAW.

I don't want to cram all the info in one package, so let's start here, and I'll simply list a few reference tunes I've been using a lot over the years and say a few words. You should be able to find all of these tunes by Googling.
I have way more refs than these, but these mostly represent a good, natural, balanced sound for most genres I work with. I always listen to the client a lot, too, and may add for refs of their own, and of course accept everything they may send.

I will talk more about referencing later this month (e.g., how and why!), on a video, so let's save that till then!

DNB
• Nucleus & Paradox – Analogue Life. A great minimal tune with amazing drums that cut thru like bricks)
• Alix Perez – The Raven. Same reason as above + hefty sub like minimal tunes allow. Great clarity and ”reasonably” loud.
• Calyx & Teebee – Perspectives. Really clean, great production. I usually want to go a hair dirtier than this, but still, this is a good one where everything has its place.
• Coco Bryce – Blue Tile Lounge (really crisp, very bassy, with light drums)
• Moresounds – Warriah (loud, energetic, great mids and bass, very fitting for loud-ish UK bass music)
• Bunit – Onionz. Nicely loud, clear, and while the sub is interestingly low, the great bass harmonics make up for it)
• Minimal/autonomic stuff: Everything on https://modernconveniences.bandcamp.com. All tunes are mastered by me: I like how all of these have come out. Modern, bassy, crispy.

HOUSE
• Jack Dixon – E. A great overall deep house ref: crispy, weighty, the drums cut nicely.
• Leon Vynehall – Dont Know Why. Amazing how well the kick cuts thru, and the overall production and sound is very nice and energetic.
• Denham Audio: Back 2 Life and Burnin' Up. Both from the same release. I had the pleasure of mastering these. Nicely bassy and crisp, with good definition on the breaks.
• Luke Vibert: Acidhouse Ecstasy and pHoam. Both from the same release. I had the pleasure of mastering these too! While the breakworks isn't mega heavy, it's kind of lighter and crisp, leaving nice room for the sub. I recall shaving some resonance off the acid line, so it's nice and perfect. Things just sit so well!
• John Summit – Deep End: A good techy house ref. A big hit on Defected, mixed and mastered by myself (I've worked with John for over 4 years now)…a good example of ”louder isn’t always better”…this one has got over 20 million streams on Spotify now, and I’m proud, as we’ve never tried to win the loudness war. The vocal isn't trying to be mega aggressive, but works well and I feel there's a decent weight there.
• John Summit – Thin Line. This one, like 98% of all JS tunes, is mixed+mastered by me. A good ”bold” tech house ref. The piano came out really loud and wide yet fitting. The vocal has a lot of energy. I’m JS’s engineer, and every time we want to go a bit ”bigger” and bolder, this is the ref. If you're into tech house, peep John's tunes, as there's a lot of variety: we haven't made all heavy, but some we've kept really bassy, for example.

TECHNO
• Sandwell District – Immolare. Very crispy highs and great sheen, and nicely bassy and gentle at the same time.
• Shifted – Drifting Over. Also great highs and definition for everything. Crispy, and the kick hits just right: not too banging, but has some nice kick authority nevertheless.
• Function – Descending. Hecking nice and just the nice amount of brightness and bass. (Most of my techno refs are like these. If the client wants to go really hard, I may ref with DNB and bass music a bit and just go a bit less loud; there’s definitely a type of techno that hits much harder than these, and things are more in front, and there, your good old bass music / DNB may work well – just go for a bit less loudness and you’re probably good.)


HIP HOP
• Brother Ali – Own Light. When mixing or mastering hip hop, this is one of my go-to refs: very clear, great definition with everything, vocal sits nicely in its own space, modern-ish sound but not too much)
• Marco Polo – Terrified (punchy, hits really hard, weighty drums, vocal cuts thru fairly nicely)
• Big L – The Enemy (old Premier beat, so a bit more oldskool, and has great weight, and the Big L vocal while maybe slightly too resonant for today’s standards, cuts nicely thru the mix)
• Pete Rock – I Wish [instrumental] (great punch and weighty roduction overall)
• AZ – Rather Unique. An older track with big beats. Displaying how the vocal doesn’t always have to be mega loud, but it’s still heard well here.

TRAP
• Big Sean ft. Kanye & Drake – Blessings (mega heavy kick, bass a bit too low, but amazing and very modern vocal clarity cutting thru, with instruments nicely in the background)
• Kevin Gates – Two Phones (while not mega weighty with bass, the production is clear, the vocal is good, and while the bass isnt the heaviest, it has nice harmonics)
• Schoolboy Q – That Part (I like how the kick and bass hit, and sure enough the vocal is mixed nicely)
• Vince Staples – 745 (everything nice and punchy and crispy, but the vocal, while good, is a bit too quiet – I do have a few refs for ”Make it better/louder than this”, which can also help)