Serato Paradise: DJs Celebrating Queer Joy Through Sound
To celebrate Pride Month—and to keep that spirit alive all year round—Serato presents Serato Paradise, a curated series of exclusive DJ mixes on Apple Music. Featuring sets from Zach Witness, KITTENS, and TRYFE, the series honors the pioneers who paved the way while spotlighting the artists shaping what’s next—each bringing their own story, spirit, and fire to the decks.
Music has always been a core tool for unity, expression and belonging in marginalised communities. Pride didn’t start with a parade, but a protest in a mafia-run gay bar in Greenwich village on a hot June night in 1969. Trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera stood up demanding freedom, dignity and safety. Through the Stonewall uprising, music was a companion, an amplifier and a safe haven, uniting people during marches. Later it filled the underground clubs where queer people, shut out of mainstream venues, built spaces of their own. The demand for freedom and the pressures of oppression existed alongside the music, and shaped it.
While today, Pride has grown into a celebration, that revolutionary spirit still reverberates in the music. From underground clubs in ’70s Chicago to today’s global festival stages, queer artists have always pushed culture forward.
“Dance culture was built by queer people—disco, house, all of it. It’s no coincidence. It’s what we’re good at: creating joy. And when you’ve experienced oppression… and you make it to the other side, the joy you express is earned.”
– Zach Witness
That’s the energy behind Serato Paradise—a tribute to the legacy of Paradise Garage, the legendary New York club in the 1970s and ‘80s where queer black, and Latino communities found a sanctuary set to DJ Larry Levan’s birth of legendary DJ sets.
Inside Serato Paradise: Pride DJ Mixes on Apple Music
Each Serato Paradise mix is like a personal manifesto. Together, TRYFE, KITTENS, and Zach Witness offer three distinct journeys through sound—each rooted in identity, intention and heart. Find out what they had to say about their mixes and the moments behind it.
TRYFE’s Mix is a Party with Purpose
(He/Him)
For TRYFE, the DJ booth is a platform, a pulpit, a portal. Whether he’s behind the decks at THURST, D.C.‘s first black owned LGBTQ+ lounge, on tour with Lil Nas X, or playing for a packed White House crowd, his goal never shifts: uplift the overlooked, center joy, and leave every space better than he found it.
“I only had 60 minutes… but as Beyoncé says, we can change the world with one beautiful song at a time.”
His Serato Paradise mix plays like a three act story built around three pillars. The first half nods to his SoundCloud-era roots: high-energy, club-tested, and unmistakably TRYFE. The second act is his thesis: representation matters, especially on dancefloors, intentionally spotlighting Black queer artists.
“40% of the artists on that mix are black queer artists. And I did that intentionally. If you can’t platform artists in your community for the Month of Pride, then are you really prideful and are you really about building your community?”
TRYFE positions the DJ as both tastemaker and a torchbearer.
“I try to find the middle ground of including the music we love, but also being what DJs are supposed to be… introducing people to great music and taking that risk of saying…I know you’re going to love it. I know the energy in the room may shift for a second, but trust me, these artists are amazing and we’re all going to have a great time.”
The final act of his mix pushes boundaries, laced with genre-defying sounds that forecast the future of queer dance music. And yet, even at his most experimental, TRYFE’s North Star never wavers:
“It was a great moment for all of us to be in such a great space, Serato, and to be platformed on Apple Music. I’m glad I could bring everyone along with me.”
TRYFE’s mix is streaming now on Apple Music.
KITTENS Brings the Claws and the Catharsis
(She, They)
KITTENS’ sets weave UKG, house, and global club sounds with intention, tension, and catharsis. As a queer Iranian-American artist, she brings her full self to every stage—and uses that visibility to open doors for others. Through her all-women DJ workshop, PWR, and her unfiltered presence both on and offline, she’s built a community around empowerment and access. Her work challenges the idea of who belongs in the booth, and what it means to lead with authenticity, pushing for safer, more inclusive nightlife.
At its core, KITTENS’ mix is just sh*t that feels good. KITTENS built her mix around the sounds inspiring her right now, the same textures that shape her own productions.
“Honestly, it was just sh*t that I really like right now… everything in there is what’s exciting me and inspiring me… it just felt good.”
For KITTENS, the mix is instinctual, a vessel for feeling, memory, and motion. It moves through UKG, house, and global club rhythms, all stitched together with emotion and energy. It’s not about perfection, it’s about the feeling—raw and real, just like the dance floor.
“There’s always this balance in my sets—between light, soulful energy and darker, bass-heavy tension. That’s kind of the origin of the name KITTENS. It sounds soft, but the set? It’s got claws.”
It’s an echo of Pride itself: a celebration that doesn’t ignore the weight it carries.
“Pride really is this time of joy and excitement and happiness. But then there’s also a lot of heaviness—because we have to have this month.
Having stuff that feels light and fun and carefree—but also a little darker and has that bassier element to it—really represents letting go of the sh*t that’s been gross and bumming you out and holding you down. Both ways are releasing and healing.”
She closes with her latest single with Yasmin Jane, Take Me Home, “A song I really like,” she says. The perfect outro.
KITTENS’ mix is streaming now on Apple Music.
Zach Witness Channels the Spirit of the Dancefloor
(He, She, They)
Zach’s Serato Paradise mix is a love letter to the lineage of queer dance culture, built in tribute to icons like Larry Levan and the legendary energy of Paradise Garage. A groundbreaking NYC nightclub where disco and house music evolved, queer Black and Latino communities found freedom on the floor and DJs were leading a movement.
“The vision was to take you to a night in New York City in the ’80s—most likely Paradise Garage—and bring you into that world musically. Everything I’m playing is music Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles, or David Mancuso would’ve played. It’s foundational dance music—and also my favorite.”
“It was my intention to really try and embody the spirit of Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan,” he shares. “Through the beauty of AI and Serato, I could pull a cappellas on the fly. I think if Larry heard it, he’d be like, ‘Damn, how did you do that?’”
Zach calls it “a catalyst to joy,” and one of their favorite moments captures that energy perfectly.
The mix blends generations and genres, layering Chaka Khan’s “Clouds” over Scat Bros.’ “Walk the Night”. Two anthems from different corners of the disco universe combined into one spirit lifting moment.
“Dance culture was built by queer people—disco, house, all of it. It’s what we’re good at: creating joy. When you’ve experienced oppression—whether through race, sexuality, or class—and you make it to the other side, the joy you express is earned. You really appreciate it.”
Zach wasn’t alive in the ’80s, “not in this life, at least”—but Zach’s mix is spirit-channeling. A sweaty, sacred communion. And Zach is the conduit.
Zach Witness’ mix is streaming now on Apple Music.
Exclusive mixes by Zach Witness, KITTENS, and TRYFE are streaming now on Serato’s Apple Music Curator Page.