In honor of Pride Month, Apple Music spotlights the club scenes around the globe that have provided a place of refuge for the LGBTQ+ community through the lens of “Pride Around The World.” To truly highlight the global impact of the queer club scene, Apple Music asked 10 renowned LGBTQ+ DJs from around the world to create exclusive DJ Mixes that will be spotlighted throughout the month of June on Apple Music.
Painting a picture of Pride celebrations in their region, participating DJs include: The Blessed Madonna (US/UK), Aquaria (US), Cakes da killa (US), Oppidan (UK), Lakuti (South Africa/Germany), u.r.trax (France), Ligrye (South Africa/South Korea), BADSISTA (Brazil), DJ LeSoul (South Africa), Lady Shaka (Aotearoa New Zealand/UK).
Apple Music will also be featuring Pride content throughout June, including new Proud Radio episodes and dedicated programming across Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country.
DJ LeSoul (South Africa)
“The mix was created to show just how much diversity there is in music right now,” South Africa’s DJ LeSoul tells Apple Music about her exclusive DJ mix, curated in honor of Pride and the queer community. “The mix was meant to evoke all the good, vibrant emotions. It’s meant to make you dance; it takes you through a journey.”
Shedding light on her process and intention while creating the mix, she explains: “I ensured that the person listening gets to hear my story. I ensure clear and clean transitioning, but at the same time, the songs have conversations with each other.” The mix covers plenty of ground—and is designed to be the ideal soundtrack for a range of moments. “I hope this mix helps revive any spirit,” she says. “It’s for anyone who wants to have fun, anyone at home and trying to clean on Sundays, anyone who wants to start their Friday night. It’s not too uptempo—it loosens the fit between EDM and electro-house versus amapiano; you’ll hear those drums every now and again.”
Lakuti (South Africa/Germany)
“The theme for this mix is ‘the soundtrack to my Black queer life,’” Johannesburg-born, Berlin-based DJ Lakuti tells Apple Music. “It’s dedicated to those within the LGBTQ+ community who continue to strive to uplift others and use their power and voices to move us forward.” Digging deeper into her Pride DJ mix’s theme and intentions, she hopes that it “conveys and honors the huge contribution that women have made throughout the years to uplift the LGBTQ+ communities and dance floors. In particular, the contribution of Black and Latina women who soundtracked LGBTQ+ dance floors across the globe—their music and legacy continues to shine to this day. These women continue to uplift us and make us love ourselves, even in times when we do not feel loved. They empower us to push on.”
Ligrye (South Africa/South Korea)
“I want to take people on a musical journey,” LIGRYE tells Apple Music about his exclusive Pride DJ mix. The South Africa-born, Seoul-based DJ carefully curated each step of the mix. “I took my time to build and tell a story—halfway through, you might have a moment where you say, ‘Okay, I see where this is going.’” LIGRYE curated the mix at home, in Seoul, and credits so much to the city. “South Korea is the first place where I actually celebrated Pride, in Seoul, and fully came out,” he says. “This place is extremely special to me.” It’s only fitting, then, that the mix directly represents the queer nightlife scene in Seoul—and queer music and community around the world.
Highlighting one of his favorite moments on the mix, he draws attention to “Freak Like U” by Masarima. “It resonates on the personal level of growing up, being different, and not understanding why you’re different. And then getting to the point where you’re able to fully accept who you are and celebrate that. I never got to celebrate Pride in my home country, so Pride in Seoul is very, very important to me,” he says. “It started with something so tiny, in Hongdae, and has progressed to something so big—yet we still see a loud minority exhibiting hate. It gives you goosebumps to see queer people with their flags against those trying to prevent this joy. You just wonder, ‘Where’s the love?’ But we still fight. They try to change the location and we still show up. We still put on our brave faces and stand together.”
The Blessed Madonna (US/UK)
“Pride is not just confetti and rainbows,” The Blessed Madonna tells Apple Music. “It’s supposed to be so much more. Pride starts as a riot. I want this to feel like a joyful riot.” The US-born, UK-based DJ and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion has crafted a Pride DJ mix that looks to history for inspiration.
“If you can listen to the medley from Sylvester’s live album Living Proof and not cry, then I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” she says, paying tribute to the queer trailblazer’s 1979 album and citing it as the starting point for her mix. “It’s a record that for me has so much built into it. I wanted it all to be a part of this. There’s victory, but also sadness and loss. I can’t listen to it without thinking about what would come next, which was the total decimation of a whole generation of queer elders,” she says.
“I hope this mix conveys that I’m so proud to be the child of those elders—the spiritual and literal child of queer people who lived through a time that is so different to my own. My own grandmother was a lesbian, and my family is full of gay people. What they went through, and lived through, and who they lost, all of that is built into this.” Her mix has been curated in honor of the “untold queers that we lost before I came of age,” she says, “that we continue to lose when we don’t stick up for kids who are learning who they are, and losing their lives for who they are. This is for them.”
Aquaria (US)
“I envision my Pride mix to be a source of euphoric energy,” Aquaria tells Apple Music. “I’ve crafted it using songs that uplift my spirits in one way or another, and give me no choice but to find the nearest dance floor and sweat it out in the name of life. The best Pride celebrations are where all members of our community feel free and celebrated, and I can imagine myself playing this mix at all sorts of steamy clubs across the city.” The city in question is New York City, of course—the drag icon took inspiration from the city itself while creating the mix: “I’ve been working on it from my home office in Brooklyn, overlooking the East River and Manhattan skyline. I’m always so inspired when I look out and reflect on my past 10 years living in this city and working in queer nightlife. I’m reminded of countless unforgettable moments, and I wanted to encapsulate the spontaneity and excitement of my experiences here.”
Of all the tracks on Aquaria’s mix, Romy’s “Enjoy Your Life” is a particular standout. “To me, this represents one of those songs that you can put on at any time, and even if you’re feeling down, its message and energy will always be there to uplift you,” Aquaria says. “The track reminds you that despite the obstacles life can throw at you, sometimes the solution really does boil down to the simple old-fashioned advice to enjoy your life. I’m all for lyrics with lots of nuance and deeper hidden meaning, but sometimes you don’t need a convoluted metaphor to express pure joy through music. Romy does that so perfectly on this track, and the DJ HEARTSTRING remix pushes that BPM—and message—even harder.”
Cakes da Killa (US)
“Music is my favorite tool for escapism,” Cakes da Killa tells Apple Music. Setting the scene for his Pride DJ mix, the rapper describes his current headspace: “I’m still buzzing from last night’s festivities, but I’m in a very, very chill mode.” He admits he’s nursing a hangover, but the calming sound of rainfall outside his Williamsburg, Brooklyn, sublet is helping.
“I hope this mix feels like home,” he says. “For the community, clubs and nightlife are safe havens or sanctuaries, and the music is the lifeline that keeps it going. Everything I do is about promoting Black excellence through a queer lens, so that’s the vibe I’m giving. We’re so often not given the credit as innovators of style and art—and we are the blueprints for a lot of it.”
Oppidan (UK)
“My mission within the rave sphere is to connect people to themselves and to let go of the worries of daily life,” UK-based DJ and producer Oppidan tells Apple Music. “Pride is all about connecting with yourself and joining together as a community, and every rave should be a celebration of Pride.”
She crafted this exclusive Pride DJ mix at her home in Bristol while reflecting on the ways her own presence is having an impact on her wider music community. “I work in a scene that’s very hetero- and male-dominated, and I believe my involvement in the garage space is making it more inclusive for women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ people,” she says. “The crowds at my shows are getting more and more diverse, and I’m really proud that so many people from different walks of life can come together to appreciate garage music with me.”
u.r.trax (France)
u.r.trax’s Pride DJ mix was tried and tested at clubs before it was compiled: “I selected tracks especially for this mix, tried some things with them live, and compiled the great moments it created in this recording,” she says. “It’s a mix to make you party, and a mix for the afterparty. I see it being played during the daytime, following a sleepless night. It’s freaky and energetic, it’s meant to channel your c**ty, unapologetic self. I think it would fit as much wide-open-air gatherings as much as intimate celebrations.”
Listen to the DJ Mixes as they become available and check out Apple Music’s always-on Pride page only at apple.co/Pride.
