EDM is one of the fastest growing music genres in the world but as a fan, I have noticed how POC artists are under-represented in this scene. Most people don’t realize that electronic dance music originated in the 1970s and 1980s Chicago club scene by a barrier-breaking POC / LGBTQ man by the name of Frankie Knuckles. In fact, his nickname was “the Godfather of House Music”. It wasn’t until 2017 when Adam Davenport became the first POC producer to chart for EDM on the Billboard Music Charts. In recent years there has been more representation with music producer’s such as New York City’s genre-bending DJ, Austin Millz. In September Millz collaborated with POC singer/producer Aluna (AlunaGeorge) and released easygoing dance hit ‘Gold’. Paired beautifully with a professional lyric video, these two are set up for success.
Growing up in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem in New York City, Austin Millz has garnered a lot of attention in just a few years. Taking inspiration from his Puerto Rican roots, his love of 90’s hip hop and the soulful sounds of New York City House, Millz has established a fresh new take on electronic music. His signature sound is a unique combination of hip-hop and soul meets dance music to which he calls the “Millz Bounce”. With millions of streams since his 2016 debut, this new music producer has established quite the social media following with his TikTok videos receiving hundreds of thousands of views. Using the platform to not only showcase his own talents, he can be seen shedding the spotlight on South African artists and DJs and specifically Amapiano, a subgenre of South African house music.
For his newest EP release titled ‘Midas’, Millz teamed up with Aluna who is most notoriously known as one half of the multi-platinum English electronic duo AlunaGeorge. This singer/producer has made her own waves as a WOC in the electronic music scene and most recently with her 2020 solo debut. Aluna lends her sweet and soulful vocals for their collaborative new track ‘Gold’. Released on September 10th, this sultry dance track is one of the grooviest releases I’ve ever heard. Co-written with Grammy & Oscar Award winner Tiara Thomas (“I Can’t Breathe”/”Fight for You” – H.E.R.), it is no surprise that this song has over a million streams so quickly!
On October 22nd, Austin Millz and Aluna released a professionally produced lyric video to pair with their single ‘Gold’. This video is the perfect example of high-quality typography and professional motion graphics. With a strong emphasis on the lyrics, this music video is so aesthetically pleasing. Off the bat, we notice that there is a slight influence from the single cover which features gold text in 2 unique fonts. This lyric video also uses 2 different fonts to display the lyrics, one being a larger and bolder sans serif font which is easy to read and the second is a script font which compliments the first beautifully. The lyrics transition so creatively throughout the video with a fun bounce or slowly appearing character by character as the word is sung.
When you have a song title such as ‘Gold’ that perfectly sets the stage for the theme of the video, it doesn’t get much better than that. The gold and black color palette is stunning. This color combination is often used to depict elegance and luxury which is perfect for this single. The visuals scream opulence and feature fun gold imagery such as flakes, dust, liquid, lighting, and silk. These tend to pair up nicely with the lyrics for example, when the lyrics read “I’ll put all my money on it” and are placed strategically around gold coins and panning gold bars. In the hook Aluna sings “If you can turn my dust to gold, take me there I’m sold” and the video zooms out gold flakes begin to fall from off screen.
Being so lyric focused, this music video is a great example of what would be a great additional visual component for any song release, catered to the artist’s fans for lyric accuracy as well as ensuring the fans revisit the artist’s official YouTube channel as opposed to fan made channels. Considering the expensive theme of the song, it also is a more cost-effective alternative to filming a live action music video. This lyric video is high quality and has endless layers of artistic ingenuity that fans truly appreciate.
Austin Millz continues to market his charismatic self on his social media platforms and has just announced that he is set to play at California’s Lightning in a Bottle Festival in May of 2022. Aluna continues to focus her energy on her solo career as well as dabbling in the world of NFTs where she auctions her collaborative designs that she cites is “A surrealist take on clothing, wearing the impossible is the future of fashion” alongside exclusive perks and privileges.
Check out the lyric video for ‘Gold‘ on Austin Millz’s official YouTube channel here: