Music
The 11 best Example songs
Ranking the best Example tracks ahead of his UK tour and festival dates this summer
In the late 2000s and early 2010s Example was everywhere. Whether he was blasting through sticky-floored student clubs, soundtracking pre-drinks, or rattling the speakers of your Nana’s Nissan Micra on the way to a festival (yes, that is a lived memory) – Example’s music defined a very specific blend of millennial chaos.
But before the chart hits and rave anthems, Example was just a West London kid looking to fit in. Finding hip-hop records by Wu-Tang Clan and Snoop Dogg sparked his obsession with rap, leading to house party rap battles and teaching himself how to command a room through bars. He eventually found a sweet spot between rapper and rave frontman, equally capable of delivering a sharp 16-bar verse or a massive hands-in-the-air chorus.
There’s always been something slightly wired about Example’s songwriting too; a restless, overstimulated energy that made even his biggest euphoric tracks feel like they’re running on both adrenaline and overthinking. Open about having ADHD, OCD and Asperger’s syndrome, his music often feels like the sound of a brain moving at 100mph.
Long before genre-blending became the norm, Example was fusing rap, dubstep, drum & bass, house and pop into tracks that captured the beautiful messiness of growing up in the rave generation better than most.
Example holds a special place in my heart. He was one of the very first gigs I ever went to, catching him in the summer of 2012 at the peak of his fame. At that point, he’d dropped three banging albums in as many years.
And he’s back at it in 2026. With a UK tour spanning Glasgow to London and a number of festivals in between, here’s our pick of Example’s 11 best songs.
11. ‘Runny Egg‘
(Balance, 2024)
Runny Egg is a filthy drum & bass cypher built on a Vibe Chemistry beat, with four MCs trading bars before Example steps in to close out the final verse. Released in 2024, it’s deliciously British in every sense: from the main hook nodding to a classic fry-up, to a cameo from EastEnders icon Kat Slater. Underneath it all sits a dirty, rolling bassline and proper jump-up drum & bass energy, landing it firmly in the same lane as the wave of Chase & Status-style heaters that have defined the genre’s recent resurgence. For Example, it also feels like a natural evolution. In recent years, Example’s leaned back into heavier bars, and drum & bass provides the perfect intersection of his two core influences: dance music and hip-hop. That crossover has seen collaborations with some of the scene’s biggest names, including Bru-C, Bou, Luude, KANINE and Whiney.
10. ‘Stay Awake’
(Playing In The Shadows, 2011)
‘Stay Awake’ is Example at his most cinematic rave-era peak. A 2011 cut about a generation fully immersed in hedonistic nightlife (ah, being a millennial was good fun back then). With production from Nero, it pairs their heavy, dubstep-influenced drops with hopeful synths, creating a sound that constantly pulls between euphoria and unease. Released around the time Skins culture and Tomorrowland-fever were at their height, ‘Stay Awake’ is a track about excess. Drinking more, partying harder, leaving questions like “am I okay?” for the morning. With lines like “Did we chase the rabbit into wonderland,” it underlines that blurred line between escapism and losing control. ‘Stay Awake’ remains a set-fave, wrapped in the early-2010s energy that defined the Playing in the Shadows era of Example.
9. ‘All Night’
(single, 2019)
‘All Night’ is a cheeky bass house record. Think throbbing bassline, repetitive four-on-the-floor drums, and the kind of groove that locks you in. Lyrically it’s less in the feels than some of his biggest tunes. A playful tribute to the all-nighter. It’s loose and fun. Not everything needs to be deep, sometimes you just want to stay out with the crew, keep the music going, and not overthink it. Conversely, the making of the track is actually very wholesome, featuring vocals from his wife (at the time) Erin McNaught, with the home-made video filmed in their lounge as the two catch a vibe while their sons slept in the next room.
8. ‘One More Day (Stay With Me)’
(Live Life Living, 2014)
Combining Example’s classic 8-bar rap with a high-energy chorus and a hint of anxious attachment, ‘One More Day (Stay With Me)’ is a 90s-inspired piano-house record. One that wouldn’t sound out of place alongside the piano-house revival we’re still hearing over a decade later. The track is about long-distance relationships and wanting a little more time in the moment before reality kicks back in. Example wrote it about meeting his wife and navigating the distance between Australia and the UK, before eventually making the big move Down Under himself.
7. ‘DEEP’ with Bou and Nonô
(We May Grow Old But We Never Grow Up, 2022)
Deep features on Example’s most recent album We May Grow Old But We Never Grow Up (2022) and includes a gorgeous vocal duet with Nonô. It was born backstage after one of Example’s shows, where he connected with drum & bass producer Bou. Built around a glitchy, chopped drop, it has a depth to it, whilst still landing in a more commercial lane compared to some of Example’s harder-styled collaborations in the genre. At its core, Deep is about working through anxiety and self-doubt, and finding that sense of grounding in the people around you and it’s become a real fan favourite.
6. ‘Kids Again’
(Live Life Living, 2014)
With an intro and title nodding to the MGMT classic, and a sonic that feels like Avicii-style big room house, ‘Kids Again’ is an instant lift. Built around a huge, jubilant chorus it’s a proper summer record (whether you’re near the sun or not). Like a lot of this chapter of Example’s career, ‘Kids Again’ sits comfortably in the dance space, while still sneaking emotion in under the euphoria. The record sums up that millennial urge to run away from “adulting”. “Yeah, yeah we could get married and have kids… or we could spend the house deposit on a year in South East Asia?” With his first child due just a few months after its release, perhaps this compulsion was hitting particularly hard for Example at the time.
5. ‘Watch The Sun Come Up’
(Won’t Go Quietly, 2010)
‘Watch The Sun Come Up’ was the first single from Example’s breakthrough album Won’t Go Quietly, and marked a clear shift away from the more traditional hip-hop sound of his earlier releases. Driven by a plucky, twinkling synthesised riff and rolling keys, it weirdly reminds me of the Skins theme song and feels very of its era. Thematically it captures the euphoric rush of waking up after a one-night affair, holiday romances, and no regrets. It went on to become a Top 5 hit and properly set the tone for Example’s breakthrough into the mainstream.
4. ‘We’ll Be Coming Back’ with Calvin Harris
(The Evolution Of Man, 2012)
With a synth-fuelled drop that, if listened to with your eyes closed, feels like it could explode into confetti behind your eyelids, ‘We’ll Be Coming Back’ is peak 2012 maximalist dance-pop. Example and Calvin Harris proved themselves the lad-EDM duo of the moment with this one. And if you’ve forgotten what 2012 felt like, just look at the original press pic: a grainy MacBook Photo Booth snap of two fully grown men, one eating a banana, the other a burrito. It’s basically everything Gen Z finds cringe about us now, and you know what? I love it. Perfectly capturing the chaos of the era, and sitting in contrast to what became one of the year’s biggest stadium anthems. ‘We’ll Be Coming Back’ has since gone on to be Example’s biggest streaming single. Outrageously of its moment, its feel-good 2010s dance at its finest.
3. ‘Changed The Way You Kiss Me’
(Playing In The Shadows, 2011)
In the early 2010s, Example was the reigning king of break-up bangers. Produced by Michael Woods, who is now better known for his tech-house alias OFFIAH, ‘Changed The Way You Kiss Me’ debuted at No.1 on the UK Singles Chart and went on to amass hundreds of millions of streams across streaming platforms. It’s a special record for every Example fan. If ‘We’ll Be Coming Back’ is explosive confetti, think stadium pyrotechnics synced up to the drop for ‘Changed The Way You Kiss Me’. Lyrically, it captures that gut-punch feeling when you realise a relationship is over. That toxic, obsessive loop. Knowing something isn’t right but not quite being able to let go. A defining moment in Example’s catalogue, and one of those tracks that instantly takes you back the second it drops.
2. ‘Say Nothing’
(The Evolution Of Man, 2012)
‘Say Nothing’ is the sort of record where Example really shines. Polished hooks and big synths on the surface, with an honest, aching volatility underneath. It’s about those fights that happen without a single word uttered. Knowing exactly what the other person is thinking just from the look in their eyes. There’s a self-awareness to the record, with references to substance abuse, selfishness, and a deep appreciation of his person, while simultaneously self-sabotaging. Example’s always been good at balancing emotion with the dancefloor, but this one feels especially loaded. Released in 2012 on Example’s fourth studio album The Evolution Of Man, ‘Say Nothing’ wasn’t a runaway hit on release, but has since become a fan favourite and remains one of his most timeless records today.
1. ‘Kickstarts’
(Won’t Go Quietly, 2010)
Unmistakably recognisable within the opening chords, there’s something magical in the ‘Kickstarts’ riff. Released in 2010 as part of Example’s breakthrough album Won’t Go Quietly, and produced by two of dance music’s heaviest hitters today, Sub Focus and Calvin Harris, it’s no surprise that 16 years on the track still hits just as hard. The way this rewired my brain chemistry back in 2010 can only really be compared to what romantasy is doing for the girlies in 2026. While these days I put more value on good communication and stability, the on-off relationship narrative in Kickstarts was like a drug for 17-year-old me. It’s that collision of all-consuming narrative and pure electro-pop rush that makes this Example at his absolute best.
