M&A #50: Young Couple

Milk & Alcohol celebrates music which is deeply tied to black communities and black culture. This mix in particular features some of the greatest contemporary black underground musicians and it is vital that we continue to bring attention to, and reassess our role in, the struggle and oppression of the communities they come from. We must acknowledge how we can act to eradicate white supremacy, and despite the fact that the Black Lives Matter protests are no longer the top news story, we can not stop. In particular, queer POC, specifically black trans women, are more vulnerable than most. Stories of black trans women being murdered for simply being who they are are far too common, and so we have added charities which support these individuals to our list of extra resources here.

• If you are financially able, donations to UK based charities supporting POC (by no means an exhaustive list) can be found on this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15gBiGqIB5ViNtfl__jlER0qNNRkxX8R0GGuryMu2k4A/edit

• A range of resources to read, long and short, can be found in this google drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10-sqmyDKIN1FK_RKOd7Anzm4E0jlnUnz

• This article details charities helping black trans lives in the states and (I believe, but am not sure) the UK http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/life/black-trans-lives-matter-incredible-charities-you-can-donate-to-right-now/

• Something I have personally found useful, and there are many of these, is this write up from CRACK Magazine, containing more petitions, causes needing your donations, reading etc: https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/help-black-lives-matter-protests-donate-organisations/
• A crowdsourced list of black producers and artists you can support on Bandcamp https://www.blackbandcamp.info/#/

We're at #50 of the mix series, with some news to come about the future, but for now we can bring you a heater fit to char your nerve endings and melt even the toughest of tantalum carbides. Tantalising is therefore an appropriate word to describe Young Couple's style, as he uses tracks with saturated bass and distorted drums to fizz up excitement at every turn. The artists featured give you an idea of the vibe this mix conveys, a Cardi B edit and Young Thug adding urgency at points. The mix is high energy, sweaty, it's a dark night at an underground club. Red lights panning across the room, glistening off bare skin and wide eyes as Young Couple builds us up to an ending which briefly gives some respite before passing a fresh breaksy breeze across the crowd as the drums double down and storm to the finale. If you saw him B2B with KSANDI at SWEAT a lifetime ago in Fez, you'll remember the feeling. Not one to sleep on, check out this and his other mixes on his mixcloud (this boy is seriously talented), linked below.

How did you record the mix?

Using a Pioneer DDJ-400 - It’s expensive so a good thing to get once you’ve tried out mixing a bit and know you want to continue as they mirror the function of club standard CDJs.

What were you trying to do with it?

Continue with the vibe of my recently conceived/birthed mix series where I try to put together club-oriented mixes that spread across genre/style/bpm and maybe even get people moving and thinking at the same time - not too much thinking though...just some. It’s definitely an approach inspired by aspects of the Leeds/Manchester alternative/queer club scene and DJs/Producers like AYA, Iceboy Violet, Aamin, Plugkeisha, Jameela and many others.

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?

‘Barking’ by Ramz.

What’s the last song you listened to?

‘Prison’ by Unknown T.

Who is your favourite producer/performer at the moment?

I haven’t been out that recently for obvious reasons but I’d say of the past few years I think two of the most intense/best sets I’ve experienced were by Kode9 and AYA. London On Da Track seems to produce a lot of my favourite Trap as well.

What is your go-to banger?

Hmm would have to be between ‘Whine & Kotch’ by Charly Black & J Capri and ‘thank u, next [ salford girls club flip ]’ by AYA - I think AYA is sick if that’s not already obvious.

What’s coming up for you during/after this summer?

Bringing the revolution, abolishing prisons and making sure the world just generally doesn’t return to any kind of prior normal - hopefully!

Also - support the Artists I play in this mix - setlists are important as DJing is not just about the DJ - Artists who make the music should always have their labour acknowledged and have their music bought!!! I think it’s also important to acknowledge that the majority of the tracks I play in the mix are produced by Artists of colour and one of the ways DJing can be made a positive act of cultural appreciation, not appropriation, is by providing listeners with a tracklist so they can go and listen to/ buy the music themselves. Try to use Bandcamp when buying music by the way - more money goes direct to the Artist!

Young Couple's Tracklist:

For Doris Payne - MHYSA
SGUBHU 6 - Forgotten Souls
MPTS - Branko, Pedro
NASTY - Shygirl
Wilin’ - Celestial Trax feat. Quay Dash
I Got A Text Riddim - Free At Last
Soda - (MikeQ & Divoli S’vere Daughter’s Ha Remix)
Hossam - TSVI
Violence - Andy Stott
Check - Young Thug
WHAT - FLORENTINO REFIX
Dirty Violin - Hitmakerchinx
Boom and Bend Over - J Capri
It Wasn’t Me - Hitmakerchinx
Akwaaba - Guiltybeatz
Boing - Mina feat. Nané
CARDI WWWINGS - MELTED YELLOW - Cnámha I'm Rich Blend - Cnámha
Watch Me - Jaymie Silk feat. Shug
Ta Tranquilo Ta Favoravel - Mc Bin Laden
NIGHT (Benga Coki) - FLORENTINO EDIT
Digits - Young Thug
Princess Nokia - BRUJAS (BASSBEAR!! Remix) - BASSBEAR!!
Terra Drums - Syn
Beat This - London Jade
Halftime - Young Thug
Really Real - Ganx
Sharp Veins - Glowworms (Noelsferatu’s Broken Circuit Edit)
Prugelknabe - Modeselektor
Promise - Dillinja
Secret Liaison - Source Direct