Let DJ Samantha Ronson Soundtrack Your New Year’s Eve
If you start the playlist at 11:03:54 PM, DMX will bring you into 2026.
You know Samantha Ronson. She’s been an A-list DJ for more than two decades. She and her family have been making hits and headlines long enough to know what truly lasts, and the undercurrent of her influence has helped set an international standard for how a room should move.
A few days ago, she quietly launched a music newsletter on Substack, Sadolescence with Samantha Ronson, so I fired off a few texts to see if she’d be game to play Guest DJ here on The Love List for New Year’s Eve.
She was down, and she delivered. (If you like what you hear, there’s a wealth of other great music both in her newsletter and on Bandcamp.) This playlist doesn’t aim to steal your night, it’s there to carry it.
Happy New Year. Don’t forget to soak your black eyed-peas for tomorrow.
A note from Samantha: Alright, I’m pretty sure I’m a DJ because I found a way to give my (socially awkward) self something to do in a separate area of the place where normal people go to have a good time. (I have absolutely no idea what suitable punctuation is required to make that sentence work, so I’m sorry.)
I get to be in the room with everybody without actually engaging, and I also get to control the vibe. Can you be a people-pleaser and a control freak?
Making a playlist for New Year’s Eve is difficult for me – aka DJ Codependent – because how can I tell if you’re enjoying the tunes if I’m not in the room to see your reaction?
So – here’s the situation (my parents went away on a week’s vacation and left the keys to the brand-new Porsche….) I have made a playlist that will force you to have a dance party, whether you’re alone on the couch, alone or not alone in your bed, in your car, or somewhere with all your friends.
Unless you’re one of those internet people just here to disagree, in which case the help you need is not mine to give, but Happy New Year anyway.
I’m gonna start you off, like Usher, “nice & slow,” with his protégé Justin Bieber, coz, damn, that man channeled Michael and made a banger.
Then, to my favorite off the new Tame Impala record. Next, we are going to let Lily Allen and some dancehall tunes do their thing. I swear, if they don’t make you move a little, pour yourself a shot or a Red Bull and work it out!
Now we go to the 90s, dip back into some 80s Prince, and if you seriously aren’t on your feet to Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own,” go to bed.
Next, we’ve got Kendrick, DMX, Jay Z, Lauryn Hill, Drake, and Bad Bunny to turn it up and Fontaines DC to bring you back down. The rest is up to you.
» Most importantly, if you start the playlist at 11:03:54 PM, DMX will bring you into 2026, and I can’t imagine a better way to begin the new year.
(To do this successfully, according to ChatGPT – in your settings – turn off crossfade and MAKE SURE ‘Gapless Playback’ is on- or make sure you’re not using a device setting that inserts extra pauses.)
More good stuff for your New Year, from The Love List and friends:
How to manifest like the elite fleet, from Cassandra Grey.
The yearly planner Melanie Masarin swears by.
Gentle guidance from Dianna Cohen on how to have the best year of your life.
tariro makoni’s guide to leveling up your sleep this year.
How I protect my year before anyone gets their hands on it.
The art of staying in from Joyce Lee.
A chat mega-thread on bringing your workout drip current.
Rachel Seville Tashjian, asking the important questions, as usual.
John Jannuzzi tells you how to throw a superior party, NYE or otherwise.
My year of fashion side quests.