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This 4th of July BBQ Playlist Will Make Sure Your Cookout is Hot

These timeless songs are sure to keep all of your guests dancing all night long

Photo: Shutterstock Monkey Business Images

The Fourth of July weekend is upon us. And as youโ€™re putting the finishing touches on your cookout menu, you canโ€™t forget to make sure your playlist is on point. The right music can make or break your BBQ, and can mean the difference between a festival worthy of fireworks and one thatโ€™s over before the sun goes down.

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Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
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When Iโ€™m not writing, I DJ, so I take my music seriously. But Iโ€™m also over 40, which means I have a special place in my heart for music from the 80s and 90s (sorry, Doja Cat). If you need a little inspiration, check out our ultimate BBQ playlist that will have everyone at your cookout from 8 to 80 dancing non stop. And if you think thereโ€™s a song we missed, be sure to let us know whatโ€™s on your cookout playlist in the comment section.

Frankie Beverly & Maze - โ€œBefore I Let Goโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5WTjqZuL_c

No disrespect to Queen Bey. She slayed her version of โ€œBefore I Let Go,โ€ which she dropped as a bonus track on her โ€œHomecomingโ€ live album. But when youโ€™re putting your cookout playlist together, ainโ€™t nothing like the real thing. Although Frankie Beverly & Mazeโ€™s 1981 hit is all about breaking up, I just canโ€™t help but smile and dance as soon as the first beat drops.

Marvin Gaye - โ€œGot To Give It Up (Pt. 1)โ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayyy-03ITDg

Marvin Gaye released โ€œGot to Give it Upโ€™โ€™ in 1977. But the song was back in the news in 2018 when after a five-year legal battle, Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke were ordered to pay $5 million to Marvin Gayeโ€™s estate in a copyright infringement suit. The family claimed Thickeโ€™s hit, โ€œBlurred Linesโ€ took a little too much inspiration from Gayeโ€™s song. But who could blame them? Everything about this song, from Marvin Gayeโ€™s falsetto to the milk bottle percussion in the background, is perfection.

Mary J Blige - โ€œFamily Affairโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znlFu_lemsU

When Mary J Blige and Dr. Dre get together you can only expect that the product will be something that makes you want to dance. The Queen of Hip Hop Soul blessed us with โ€œFamily Affairโ€ in 2011 on her โ€œNo More Dramaโ€ album. And when she performed the hit at the 2022 Super Bowl, she proved that it is definitely a banger that can stand the test of time.

Alicia Myers - โ€œI Want to Thank Youโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9wGnnwBc9M

No party playlist is complete without โ€œI Want to Thank You,โ€ Alicia Myersโ€™ 1981 hit. In the song, sheโ€™s thanking the Lord for sending her true love. And youโ€™ll want to thank her for blessing us with this timeless classic that is sure to be a favorite of any lover of house, disco, or R&B.

Jagged Edge ft. Nelly - โ€œWhere the Party Atโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UCY_U4QwqI

Jagged Edge is known for their love songs like โ€œLetโ€™s Get Marriedโ€ and โ€œPromise,โ€ but they proved that they also know how to make people dance with โ€œWhere the Party At,โ€ the 2001 Jermaine Dupri-produced track featuring Nelly. โ€œIf the partyโ€™s where youโ€™re at then let me know.โ€

Zhanรฉ - โ€œHey Mr. DJโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n4QUIjUJFk

The โ€˜90s introduced us to some amazing R&B girl groups, and Zhanรฉ is no exception. โ€œHey Mr. DJโ€ was the duoโ€™s debut single and one of the hottest tracks on their 1994 album โ€œPronounced Jah-Nay.โ€ The song soared to the top of the R&B and Dance charts and had all of us wanting the DJ to keep playing that song โ€œon and on and on.โ€

Ghost Town DJs - โ€œMy Booโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxRiwnmYjMg

Ghost Town DJsโ€™ โ€œMy Booโ€ was a hit when it first dropped in 1996, reaching #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. But a viral โ€œRunning Man Dance Challengeโ€ breathed new life into the song in 2016 and sent the song up the charts to the #29 spot.

Beyoncรฉ - โ€œBreak My Soulโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW4Xg3hl3rE

As a true-blue house head, I donโ€™t know if I can agree with the internetโ€™s claim that Queen Bey resurrected house music with her latest track, โ€œBreak My Soul.โ€ But thatโ€™s only because I donโ€™t think the genre needed resurrecting in the first place. But I will admit that the house-inspired track is an undeniable banger that you canโ€™t help but dance to.

Donell Jones ft. Lisa โ€œLeft Eyeโ€ Lopes - โ€œU Know Whatโ€™s Upโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2mEjkBmDQo

If you were clubbing in the late โ€˜90s, you already know whatโ€™s up. This Donell Jones classic was a go-to when I was getting ready to hit the streets with my girls. And when Left Eyeโ€™s verse drops, itโ€™s hard not to dance.

Roy Ayers - โ€œRunning Awayโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1zm1-HpW0A

Where this often-sampled disco track lacks in lyrics, it totally makes up for in funkiness. If youโ€™re looking to burn some calories after eating all of that Fourth of July food, this nearly seven-minute track will help you break a serious sweat.

Faith Evans - โ€œLove Like Thisโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1QzBQKYbag

Faith Evansโ€™ โ€œLove Like Thisโ€ samples the unmistakably dope baseline of Chicโ€™s โ€œChic Cheer.โ€ Her 1998 hit is an R&B classic everyone can get down with.

Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock - โ€œIt Takes Twoโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phOW-CZJWT0

You may not have been around when Lyn Collinsโ€™ 1972 single โ€œThink (About It)โ€ was released. But we can all agree that Rob Base & DJ EZ Rockโ€™s โ€œIt Takes Twoโ€ did it justice with the sample.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - โ€œSummertimeโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr0tTbTbmVA

Itโ€™s easy to forget that Will Smith was a rapper long before he became an A-list actor. But โ€œSummertimeโ€ will remind you that the guy actually has bars. The song, which samples Kool & The Gangโ€™s โ€œSummer Madness,โ€ won them a GRAMMY for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1991 and has been a cookout classic ever since.

Earth, Wind & Fire - โ€œSeptemberโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk

Your cookout may be in July, but Earth, Wind & Fireโ€™s 1978 hit โ€œSeptemberโ€ is a classic disco track your guests will love.

Teena Marie - โ€œSquare Bizโ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9wotiDai5U

Teena Marie may have been white, but she had a standing invitation to the cookout. And her hit, โ€œSquare Biz,โ€ is a timeless classic that should be on every party playlist. โ€œWhen I first auditioned her she was so awesome she blew me away,โ€ Berry Gordy said after her passing in 2010. โ€œShe had so much soul โ€” the only thing white about her was her skin.โ€

ย 

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