The Human-Powered Friendly Yet Cut-Throat Competition: KEXP's Segue of the Week

I’ve produced enough radio shows to know… 

I’ve DJed enough community radio shows to know…

I’ve been in the studio at KEXP enough to see…

DJs freaking love a good transition from one song to another. When a DJ nails a segue, you can just feel it in your bones. There are many differences between an algorithm and an actual human programming your music, but magic segues is a big one—they really bring the art of DJing to light.

One time I was producing a show of Troy Nelson’s on KEXP and he had an in-credible segue. I told him that it was spectacular and he looked at me and said, “It’s kinda my thing.”

And that’s the moment the spark of my idea for Segue of the Week was born. So in July, Troy came up with a song…

And I made a form for listeners to nominate segues… and we were off to the races! We air Segue of the Week at the end of each episode of Sound & Vision (on Saturday mornings from 7:30 to 9 am PT). I choose either three or four nominations and for the first handful of segues, I let Troy judge them, because they’re kinda his thing. But then we had the brilliant idea to let the winner of the previous week judge the next week. 

This has become my favorite segment. I love hearing the art of a good segue. I LOVE watching KEXP DJs geek out over transitions from one song to the next. I love having an excuse to talk to KEXP DJs I don’t usually see in the halls! This passing-of-the-baton made-up competition where people get to judge the art of the craft however they want with whatever scoring system they invent is just so much fun, which feels like exactly what KEXP is all about.

It’s hard to even describe, so take a listen to a recent Segue of the Week…

Huge thanks to this community for helping fuel my new favorite segment. Keep nominating and keep tuning in to hear the beautiful work of real-live humans: kexp.org/sotw/ 

History of Winners:

Jul 9, 2022

Morgan Chosnyk
for the transition from
Odezsa’s “Behind the Sun” into Little Simz’s “Introvert”

Jul 16, 2022

Cheryl Waters
for the transition from
MIA and Timbaland’s “Come Around” into Jurassic 5 feat. Percee P & Big Daddy Kane’s “A Day at the Races”

Jul 23, 2022

John Richards
for the transition from
Death in Vegas’ “Girls” into the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps”

Jul 30, 2022

Reeves Richards
for the transition from
Judy Garland’s “But Not For Me” into Metallica’s “One”

Aug 6, 2022

Vitamin D
(Larry Mizell Jr. with the Assist)
for the transition from
Kool and the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” into EPMD’s “You Gots to Chill”

Aug 13, 2022

Larry Rose
for the transition from
Guided by Voices “I am a Scientist” into Alex G’s “Runner”

Aug 20, 2022

Marco Collins
for the transition from
UNKLE’s “The Way Back Home” into ODESZA’s feat. Ólafur Arnalds "Light Of Day"

Aug 27, 2022

Mike Ramos
for the transition from
Mos Def’s “Auditorium” into MF Doom’s “Gazillion Ear”

Sep 3, 2022

Kennady Quille
for the transition from
“World of your Future” by Bam Bam into “Crosstown Traffic” by Jimi Hendrix

Sep 10, 2022

Evie Stokes
for the transition from
“The Ballad of Marion Zioncheck” by Left at London to “Good Will Come to You” by Fruit Bats

Sep 17, 2022

Troy Nelson
for the transition from
“Into the Light” by Siouxsie and the Banshees to “Sugar Hiccup” by the Cocteau Twins

Sep 24, 2022

Riz Rollins
for the transition from
"The Children of Scorpio" by Project Gemini to "Fo Sho" — Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio

Oct 1, 2022

DJ Miss Ashley
for the transition from
"Redemption Song" by Bob Marley to "X10" by Koffee

Oct 8, 2022

Kevin Cole
for the transition from
"Rebirth of the Cool" by The Afghan Wigs to "Wildfires (PanoSigma Midnight Fire Mix)" by SAULT

Oct 29, 2022

Mike Ramos
for the transition from
Roman GianArthur Irvin’s “No Surprises (feat. Janelle Monae)” to Outkast’s “Vibrate”