DJ Young on grief, survival, and how losing everything during COVID led him to the decks.
Katlego Sekhu
DJ Young recently sat down with My Top 10 at 10 with Tbose for an honest conversation about his journey in music.
He got into deejaying entirely by chance. What started as something casual eventually gained traction, and before long, music became more than a pastime.
“I started playing music for my friends and teaching people on my street about Soul Music.”
But the road there was not straightforward. During COVID, DJ Young lost his brother, his job and his job at Vodacom.
With few options, he started a tuckshop to survive. It was a difficult period, and one that forced him to take stock of what he actually wanted to do with his life.
That eventually pointed him toward music.
He also opened up about lip syncing during his sets, explaining why he started doing it and what it meant for how audiences connected with him.
For DJ Young, performance has always been about more than just the music.
On the subject of song selection, he was candid. There is a song he admits he is tired of playing, but the crowd still wants it.
“For me, it’s All for You by Glen Jones.”
And there is one he genuinely loves putting on.
“I love Doesn’t Mean Something by Geoff McBride. It’s spiritual for me.”
The tension between what an artist wants and what an audience expects is something he navigates every time he steps behind the decks.
One of his bigger missions has been making R&B fashionable again.
In his view, the genre deserves more space than it currently gets, and he has been intentional about creating that space through his sets.
To hear the full interview, listen to the podcast.
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