Everything YouTube
YouTube has become such an essential stitch in the garment of our daily entertainment. It teaches us things, cures our boredom, makes us happy….sometimes keeps us up far too late at night.
We’re not going to tell you what YouTube is – we know you already know. We just wanted to share a few tips we’ve picked up, plus some favorites by way of music videos and channels that you can scope out for yourself.
Top 5 music videos:
Prince – ‘When Doves Cry’
A hazy, purple soaked trip back to 1984 where Prince sings from the bathtub of a dove filled room.
Throw in the motorbike riding scenes, the lakeside romance and the futuristic dance scene in a limbo-styled room with a spiral staircase – you’ve got yourself a winner.
A$AP Rocky – ‘L$D’
The psychedelic hit from the Harlem rapper’s sophomore album ‘At. Long. Last. A$AP’ has one of the most beautifully chaotic videos we’ve ever seen.
Directed by the A$AP Mob’s renowned visual designer Dexter Navy, the video tracks what has been said to be Rocky’s experience on hallucinogens.
This will take you out of your own head in a big way. Dive in.
Jamie XX – ‘Gosh’
A track from Jamie XX’s album ‘In Colour’ that swims through an eerily dystopian uniform society.
The video is quite unnerving and will make you feel a little bit strange, but there’s a beauty to the cohesive aesthetic through thousands of people dressed and acting exactly the same.
Plus, your mind will boggle at the logistical exercise that filming this video would have been.
Young Thug – ‘Wyclef Jean’
The hip hop enigma that is Young Thug is packaged perfectly into these five minutes.
“Co-directed” by Ryan Staake, the video goes on to show a music video that Young Thug was supposed to star in, but never showed up for.
There are questions of whether this was an elaborate concept of itself, or in fact, Young Thug really didn’t show up for his own video shoot.
Take a look and decide for yourself.
David Bowie – ‘Life on Mars’
I mean – do we even need to explain why?
It’s magical. It’s mesmerizing. It’s Bowie.
Top 5 YouTube channels:
Before we rattle off our list, we wanted to give a shout out to some of the companies we work with who make great content for learning how to DJ, understanding your hardware and reviews on new products.
We tip our hat to BPM Supreme, Crossfader and Digital DJ Tips. Check them out now to upskill your DJing.
Now, for our list (some for music, some for fun).
Genius
Genius started off as a website where you can find lyrics to your favorite rap songs. It has now exploded into an online platform of sharing, learning, and diving deep on all things music.
The channel features a variety of content series. There’s ‘Verified’, where artists go through lyrics to their hit songs, explaining the lines.
‘Deconstructed’, where top dog producers go through the process of how they made the beat that became Post Malone’s ‘Rockstar’, or Roddy Ricch’s ‘The Box’ (plus a ton more).
There’s so much more, but we didn’t want to give away all the surprises.
Gordon Ramsay
Watching this man cook is the same as watching DJ Jazzy Jeff work records: it’s like magic.
Gordon’s channel features his best moments from TV shows such as ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ and ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, plus wholesome content of the man himself (and sometimes his kids) teaching you his favorite recipes in his home kitchen.
PAQ
Four British lads travel the world completing challenges and competing against each other in the name of fashion and streetwear.
Beyond featuring an endless supply of incredible garments and footwear, the channel often features familiar faces, from fashion icon Blondey McCoy to pop star Billie Eilish.
Complex
Complex’s channel is a one stop shop for anyone looking for music and streetwear. A notable series is ‘Sneaker Shopping’, which features your favourite artists and celebrities swiping the plastic at their favorite sneaker stores.
There’s also a truckload of interviews, vlogs and behind the scenes with your favourite artists. This channel will lock you in for hours.
ChilledCow
The renowned channel provides lo-fi hip hop music to study, work or relax to. It’s as simple as that.
Put a stream on in the background, sit back and relax or get to work. They’ll take care of the rest.
Bonus: Serato
Finally, throwing one more in with the mix: we have our own YouTube channel where you can find all things Serato.
From DJing, to music production techniques, to interviews with artists. You want it, we’ve got it. Dive in.
Monetizing your YouTube account
Lastly, super quickly, we just wanted to run you through something in case you weren’t aware.
If you’ve already got a YouTube account for promoting your mixes, music or other self-made content, you can monetize it by letting YouTube advertise on the content you’re releasing.
Follow these steps, and YouTube will take care of the rest. It’s always nice to have a little bit more in the pocket, especially in times like these.
- Sign in to your YouTube account.
- Select your account icon in the top right corner.
- Click Creator Studio.
- In the left menu, select Channel > Status and features.
- Click Enable in the Monetization section.
- Follow the on-screen steps to accept YouTube’s Terms.
Happy surfing.