DJ Earworm Plays the Hits Again

Christmas is a pretty good indicator, sure—but the year isn’t officially on its way out until DJ Earworm releases his now-traditional end-of-year mashup of Billboard‘s top 25 songs of the year. And 2010’s installment, “Don’t Stop the Pop,” doesn’t disappoint—though a conspicuous absence of heavyweights like Kanye West, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber does make us wonder whether it might be time for DJ Earworm to give up Billboard and start using a different metric to figure out the year’s most popular songs. iTunes downloads, maybe?

While last year’s mashup was heavy on the Black Eyed Peas and Jason Derulo, this one relies mainly on Ke$ha and Katy Perry (who, like Lady Gaga and Taio Cruz, makes multiple appearances). Our favorite moment comes at around 4:41, when the good DJ finally finds a way for “Empire State of Mind” and “California Gurls” to live in perfect harmony.

This year’s tracks include:

• Ke$ha: “Tik Tok”
• Lady Antebellum: “Need You Now”
• Train: “Hey, Soul Sister”
• Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg: “California Gurls”
• Usher feat. will.i.am: “OMG”
• B.O.B. feat. Hayley Williams: “Airplanes”
• Eminem feat. Rihanna: “Love the Way You Lie”
• Lady Gaga: “Bad Romance”
• Taio Cruz: “Dynamite”
• Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris: “Break Your Heart”
• B.O.B. feat. Bruno Mars: “Nothin’ On You”
• Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull: “I Like It”
• Young Money feat. Lloyd: “Bedrock”
• Jason Derulo: “In My Head”
• Rihanna: “Rude Boy”
• Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce: “Telephone”
• Katy Perry: “Teenage Dream”
• Bruno Mars: “Just the Way You Are”
• Mike Posner: “Cooler Than Me”
• The Black Eyed Peas: “Imma Be”
• Jay-Z and Alicia Keys: “Empire State of Mind”
• Usher Featuring Pitbull: “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love”
• Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars: “Billionaire”
• Eminem: “Not Afraid”
• Iyaz: “Replay”

FOR MORE ABOUT DJ EARWORM AND TO HEAR PAST YEARS’ MASHUPS, VISIT HIS WEBSITE.