Hailing from Marseille in the south of France, house duo Amine Edge & DANCE are two of the most respected DJs to come out of the country, which is no mean feat when considering its impressive list of dance exports over the years. And how did they earn all this respect? Through flawless selections and making sure that their mixes and sets had their own personalities stamped all over them. Ever since they emerged as a partnership, they've been steady grinding, making a name for themselves as connoisseurs of early House, Philly funk, '80s hip-house and everything in between. For the fourth edition of our Complex Sessions, and ahead of their appearance at South West Four Festival in Clapham Common on Aug. 27, we got the boys to make one of their inimitable mixes to add to our nascent series. We also asked them a few quick questions, where they talk first record purchases, the never-ending war between the mainstream and underground, and the criminally under-appreciated French rap scene.
Teasingly, DANCE told us he'd been working on some slower R&B beats and was keen to work with Bryson Tiller or Torey Lanez. You'll have to decide for yourself what the odds are of that happening, but you can't deny you want to hear that. As for the mix, everything inside comes from their own CUFF label, giving you plenty of reasons to dig deeper in the label's back catalogue. And the essential tune they couldn't bear to leave out? Their glorious jackin' house remix of Medeew & Chicks Luv Us' elating "Mind Control" featuring Sergio Diaz (the original of which also features in the mix). Can't fault that.
Tell us a bit about your selections in this mix.
Amine Edge: It's only tracks from our label CUFF, that we recently released, to show to the Complex fans a lil' bit of our universe.
What was the one track you absolutely had to include?
DANCE: Our recently released production on CUFF: Medeew's "Chicks Luv U" featuring Sergio Diaz, the Mind Control Amine Edge & DANCE remix. It's very catchy and a very powerful tech-house dancefloor tune; we're very proud of it as its our first track in this style.
Any tracks that narrowly missed the cut?
Amine Edge: Oh man! There's so many tracks we would like to add if we were allowed to do 24-hour set [laughs].
What's the first single or album you ever bought?
Amine Edge: I think it was "Insomnia" by Faithless; not really sure, but something I am sure about is that I still love that tune.
DANCE: Michael Jackson's 1991 album, Dangerous.
What's the last physical record you bought?
Amine Edge: I recently bought the entire record collection of an old Hacienda resident DJ. 5000 units in total, so a lot of jams.
DANCE: Honestly? I can't remember. I didn't buy a physical record for over 10 years, at one point. But for my last birthday, Amine bought me the whole R. Kelly discography in vinyl.
What do you want to see happen musically over the next 12 months?
Amine Edge: It's hard to say, because there's a lot of shit out there, but there's a lot of good things too. People complain a lot about the shit side having control over everything, but I deeply think that "no commercial shit means no underground"; it's a balance—underground is stronger when the shit music is in the front row. Every generation complains about a commercial/underground war, but nothing changes, and nothing will change—it's like this since the beginning of time. I would love to have a song on radio, but I don't want to force myself to talk about being on radio.
DANCE: I'd love to make an R&B track with singers like Bryson Tiller, Tory Lanez or PARTYNEXTDOOR. I recently made a lot of slow and strong beats like that. And, obviously, I can't wait to release all the house tracks that we made last year.
What trend or scene absolutely needs to die right now?
Amine Edge: As I said before, the things I want to see dying are important for the things I want to keep alive. I want "EDM" to die. But this shit is here for a good reason, "the balance."
DANCE: The new trend of "commercial French rap" with horrible, fast beats. It's always on the radio! There's so many good unknown French rappers out there, which is why this annoys me a lot.
Stream and free-download below.
Tracklist:
1. Bruno Furlan - "Rinoceronte" (Original Mix)
2. Fred Su - "The Boss" (Original Mix)
3. Sammy W & Alex E - "Ma Beat" (Original Mix)
4. The Beatangers & Boogie Vice - "Beat Rolls" (Original Mix)
5. Bruno Furlan - "Red Alert" (Original Mix)
6. Elomak - "Robot Monster Is Alive" (Original Mix)
7. Luke Larrell - "Get Ri$h" (Original Mix)
8. Sammy W & Alex E - "Baby Bitch" (Original Mix)
9. Carloz Sants - "Los Brothers" (Original Mix)
10. Luke Larrell - "Cocaine Bitche$" (Original Mix)
11. Medeew & Chicks Luv Us - "Mind Control" f/ Sergio Diaz (Amine Edge & DANCE Remix)
12. Elomak - "Mocha Blanc" (Original Mix)
13. Nick Hannam & Hott Like Detroit - "Take Yo' Bitch" (Original Mix)
14. Medeew & Chicks Luv Us - "Show Me" f/ Sergio Diaz (Original Mix)
