I LOVE SINGERS WHO WRITE THEIR OWN SONGS!

Typically in the music biz singers sing, songwriters write and musicians compose. Then they all come together to make sonic magic. It’s hard enough to be a successful vocalist in this industry, but for those artists with killer pipes, who give you goosebumps with their performance of a song and they wrote it too – mad props!

Some of my fave singer songwriters in pop music right now are Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams, Katie Perry, Ryan Tedder, Bruno Mars, Adel and Ne-Yo. Amazingly many singer songwriters create songs for other artists too. Take Charli XCX who wrote Boom Clap for Hilary Duff but it was rejected for supposedly not being cool enough. She also wrote I Love It for Icona Pop and the hook for Iggys summer anthem Fancy. Ke$ha who has said she primarily considers herself a songwriter has given us hits like Tik Tok  and We R Who We R but she also penned Till the World Ends for Britney Spears. Ke$ha said… “That song was written specifically for Britney - I put my brain in Britney Spears land and wrote that whole song for her”. Singer Jessie J wrote hits for herself such as Domino and Price Tag  but she’s also written for many others. Jessie penned Miley Cyrus' No. 1 hit Party In The USA. She says of song writing: "You’ve got to write songs, that’s where the money is. Party In the U.S.A paid my rent for, like, three years. Actually, it was longer than that. That’s where I get most of my money. Jessie explained further in an interview with RWD magazine: "I recorded Party In The U.S.A., played it for the label but they didn't think it was right for me. So they pitched it (to Miley) and two weeks later it was number one in six countries". Sia who has written many hits including her smash Chandelier also co-wrote Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself) by Ne-Yo and Diamonds for Rihanna. Sia claims she wrote Diamonds in just 14 minutes. What do those royalties translate to in dollars per minute???? Mucho dinero! I have got to start writing more songs!

For now I’m pumped to be shreddin’ all the hits on the wheels of steel for you this weekend. Get ready for a massive show including EXCLUSIVE new mixes on Maroon 5, Zedd/Selena Gomez, Wiz Khalifa/Charlie Puth, David Guetta/Nicki Minaj and George Ezra. Plus brand new HK bangers on Carly Rae Jepsen, Ryn Weaver, Sheppard, Nate Ruess, Lunchmoney Lewis and more!

Remember…If it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

ANDY GRAMMER FULL INTERVIEW [VIDEO]

ANDY GRAMMER TALKS MUSIC, TEMPTATION & MORE ON IN THE MIX WITH HK

Andy Grammer has come a long way since using his car battery to power his amp and acoustic guitar while street performing. The Platinum selling singer-songwriter's latest Top 40 hit Honey I’m Good is climbing the charts and his current album Magazines Or Novels hit 27 on Billboards 200 Album Chart. This week he’ll be talking with us about temptations on the road, his love of performing and what life-altering event may be in his future!

This weekend your future is party bound with non-stop exclusive mixes of all your faves, some classics and brand new bangers you don’t want to miss! I’ve got the decks locked and loaded with custom HK remixes on Mark Ronson, Sam Smith, Jason Derulo, Flo Rida, Walk The Moon and so much more!

Remember…If it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

FORGET TIME'S 100 - HK'S 3 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN POP…RIGHT NOW!

This Week TIME magazine released its list of 100 Most Influential People. It's a fun read you'll no doubt agree & disagree with. Which pushed me to make my own Top 3 list of the most influential creators dropping a bomb on Pop music.

My list includes 1) Taylor Swift- Writer, performer and marketing genius. 2) Max Martin – Producer and cowriter extraordinaire for Taylor Swift, Katie Perry and Pink. He has also worked with Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears and Jessie J. 3) Ryan Tedder - Flat out music mastermind. Also known as the lead singer of OneRepublic, the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and producer has written songs for the likes of Beyoncé, U2 and Adele, as well as writing Ella Henderson’s chart topping debut single, Ghost. He wrote 2007’s Apologize, which was performed by OneRepublic, and became the most played song on American radio of all time. That record was broken in May 2008 by Leona Lewis’s Bleeding Love – a song Tedder co–wrote and produced (nothing like breaking your own record and setting another). Tedder’s more recent songs/productions include Gwen Stefani, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Madonna, One Direction and Olly Murs.

Who do you think has recently blown up the pop music landscape? Hit me up at hk@hkonthedecks.com with your list.

This weekend I’m gonna be blowin’ up your speakers with EXCLUSIVE HK mixes on Ellie Goulding, Natalie La Rose, Ariana Grande, Flo Rida, Zedd, Nick Jonas,Tori Kelly, Lunchmoney Lewis and more!

Remember…If it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

MIAMI'S HIT MACHINE GETS IN THE MIX WITH HK™

Miami has given us many stellar artists but when it’s time to party Pitbull and Flo Rida are part of what I call the Miami hit machine. Both artists had a choppy start but it didn’t stop them from banging out a boatload of hits.

Flo Rida was raised by a single mother in a rough neighborhood. He says ““Growing up in the projects, you never knew when you’d have to lay down on the ground because they’re shooting or the police swat team is on the roof”. Flo credits music for keeping him on the strait path. A path that turned out to be paved with gold and platinum. His blockbuster singles like Low (feat. T-Pain), Right Round, Club Can’t Handle Me, Good Feeling and Wild Ones (feat. Sia) are dance floor magnets.

Pitbull’s youth was no easy ride either. His mother struggled to make ends meet. He was shuttled from one rundown home to another, even living with a foster family for a time. At one point his mother kicked Pit out for dealing drugs. Today Pit aint called Mr. World Wide for nothin’. Not with anthem hits like Timber (feat. Ke$ha), International Love (feat. Chris Brown),  Fireball (feat. John Ryan) and Feel This Moment (feat. Christina Aguilera) to name a few.

Both artists never stopped working and pumping their positive attitude to become who they are today. This weekend I’m gonna be workin’ hard mixin’ and remixin’ Pitbull’s latest jam featuring Ne-Yo - Time Of Our Lives and Flo Rida’s banger GDFR (feat. Sage The Gemini). I'll be layin’ the beat for an all out party throw down of all your favorite hits!  Get ready to turn up the volume when I hit the ones and twos!

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

CLEAN BANDIT EASTER SUNDAY THROWDOWN [CONCERT PHOTOS]

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE ALL OF THEM

RYN WEAVER GETS IN THE MIX WITH HK™

Ryn Weaver the 22 year old singer-songwriter out of San Diego has been called this years “It Girl”. MTV named her Artist to Watch saying ‘Joining the ranks of songwriting bad asses like Charli XCX and Lorde, Ryn is pretty much primed to pop off in 2015”. I couldn’t agree more. Huffington Post included her in their 25 Artists You Need To Start Listening To In 2015 and Times hailed her in their 15 Artists To Watch In 2015. Her debut single Octahate has been climbing up the charts. It also garnered 1 million plays on SoundCloud in two weeks and streamed more that 6 million times on Spotify. Given Ryn’s powerful lyrics and emotional vocal delivery combined with star studded collaborators/writers/producers namely- Charli XCX and Benny Blanco it’s no wonder Octahate hit the ground running. This weekend I sit down with Ryn to talk about her new found success, the inspiration behind the single and the excitement of hearing her song on the radio for the first time. And of course…there's always some amazing secrets you'll only hear when they get In The Mix with HK™.

Before Ryn tells us a few of her surprises you'll be blown away with my custom HK mixes on Kelly Clarkson, Calvin Harris/Ellie Goulding, Tove Lo, Sam Smith, Life of Dillon and many more. So, don’t miss a single beat this weekend.

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.