French DJ and producer DJ King Flow returns with another edition of Mixtape Addict, featuring an interview with Young Amsterdam on Scientific Sound Asia. Scientific Sound Asia operates as an international radio station, DJ agency, promoter and music news platform, supporting artists connected with both the foundations and continuing development of Hip Hop culture.
DJ King Flow began DJing at the age of fourteen, developing an approach firmly rooted in Boom Bap and the Hip Hop of the 1990s. Those foundations remain central to his work, while his selections regularly place contemporary independent artists alongside established names from earlier generations.
That connection between different periods of Rap has become an important part of his identity as both a selector and producer. Hard drums, sample-driven production and lyric-focused records remain central to the musical direction of Mixtape Addict.
His career has included collaborations with Ras Kass, Tragedy Khadafi, O.C., Juicy J and Khujo Goodie. These projects connect his production work with established artists while keeping him closely involved with the contemporary independent Hip Hop scene.
In 2015, DJ King Flow launched Mixtape Addict as a platform dedicated to independent Hip Hop. What began around radio and mixtapes developed into a wider project combining broadcasts, new music, artist interviews and direct support for MCs, DJs and producers.
The interview side of the project expanded through The Mixtape Addict Report, a video series recorded across France, Canada and the United States. These conversations give artists space to discuss their careers, influences, creative processes and experiences working within independent Hip Hop.
Rather than separating the interviews from the music, Mixtape Addict places both within the same wider culture. DJ King Flow uses the programme to connect lyric-focused Rap, beatmaking and DJ culture while introducing artists from different parts of the international underground.
This edition features Young Amsterdam, whose interview adds another independent voice to the programme. The conversation provides space for him to discuss his background, music and experiences in his own words while DJ King Flow continues the show’s focus on contemporary underground Rap.
Interview Guest Young Amsterdam
This edition’s featured artist is Young Amsterdam, a French rapper, entrepreneur and cultural promoter whose work connects Hip Hop communities in France and the United States. Alongside his own music, he has played an important role in developing platforms designed to bring artists, DJs and audiences from different scenes together.
As an MC, Young Amsterdam draws from underground Rap and traditional Boom Bap while also incorporating more contemporary approaches to flow and production. His writing reflects both French Hip Hop culture and the influence of American Rap, giving his work an international perspective without losing its connection to the genre’s foundations.
His involvement with Mixtape Addict extends well beyond appearing as an artist on the platform. Young Amsterdam co-founded the Mixtape Addict brand with DJ King Flow in 2012, helping establish the wider project that would develop through mixtapes, radio, interviews and other forms of independent Hip Hop media.
The project later expanded through the Mixtape Addict radio show and The Mixtape Addict Report, an interview series featuring artists from different generations and locations. These formats have given rappers, producers and other figures within Hip Hop space to discuss their work, careers and experiences directly.
Young Amsterdam’s position within the project combines his experience as an MC with his work behind the scenes as a promoter and organiser. That dual role allows him to contribute both creatively and structurally to a network built around independent Rap, artist collaboration and international exchange.
His appearance on Mixtape Addict therefore carries a different perspective from a conventional guest interview. As both an artist and one of the people involved in building the wider platform, Young Amsterdam can discuss his own music alongside the history, development and international connections behind the project.
DJ King Flow opens Mixtape Addict Episode 65 with Young Amsterdam's ODB Dedication, placing the featured artist at the centre of the show from the outset. Young Amsterdam remains in focus alongside Lex Lakaiser and DJ King Flow on International Connection before Not To Be Played Wit completes an opening run rooted firmly in Underground Hip Hop.
Dnzl Izm and DJ King Flow continue with On Comprend Pas before El Gant, Copywrite and D1 combine on Justify, keeping the emphasis on lyric-driven independent rap. Lefty Pachino's Turn Table and Contageous Funk's No Way Out follow with the hard drums and stripped-back production associated with Boom Bap.
Nutso's Trapped adds cuts from Mista Sinista before Lex Lakaiser returns with I Still Shine, giving the middle section another direct and uncompromising turn. Obleak and Necro then bring a darker edge with the Haunted remix, while K.A.A.N and DJ Hoppa follow with Comment Section and keep the programme centred on bars rather than crossover production.
John Jiggs and Kyo Itachi continue the underground pressure with Stay Up before Shabaam Sahdeeq, Es-K and Tone Spliff bring Cold Truth into the closing stretch. Pro Dillinger and Futurewave then finish the musical portion with Road 2 Riches, reinforcing the episode's connection with contemporary East Coast Hip Hop and independent Boom Bap.
The episode closes with DJ King Flow interviewing Young Amsterdam, returning the focus to the artist who drives the opening section of the show. Across Episode 65, the selection remains rooted in Hip Hop built around lyricism, rugged production and independent collaboration, with Young Amsterdam given both musical and conversational space.
DJ King Flow welcomed longtime collaborator Young Amsterdam to Mixtape Addict for a conversation rooted in more than a decade of shared work between France and New York. The Brooklyn figure discussed his role as a connector within Hip Hop, his independent work across music and film, the artists he has supported and the personal experiences that have strengthened his determination to keep creating.
Asked to name his favourite DJs, Young Amsterdam chose the late DJ Kay Slay and DJ Big Kap because both consistently gave opportunities to artists outside the established industry hierarchy. That support for underdogs became an important example for Amsterdam, who has applied a similar principle to his own work by connecting artists, platforms and opportunities whenever he can.
Rather than defining himself through one conventional industry title, Young Amsterdam described himself as a "dot connector" and spoke about operating from what he calls an organic core. His approach is based on authenticity, direct relationships and presenting things without unnecessary additions, allowing people to judge the work and the person behind it as they actually are.
Growing up in New York placed him around several areas of Hip Hop culture, including graffiti, breaking, MCing and people connected with its wider development. That environment taught him to see Hip Hop as a network of different disciplines rather than a career path limited to recording songs.
Young Amsterdam and King Flow first connected around 2012, beginning a working relationship that has lasted for roughly fourteen years despite spending much of that time in different countries. Their collaborations have included mixtapes, artist connections, production and other independent projects built through communication between Brooklyn and France.
Looking back at everything he has worked on, Amsterdam compared his approach to farming because he rarely stops long enough to measure each result while it is happening. He prefers to plant ideas, support them and keep working on the next opportunity, trusting that some of those early efforts will produce results years later.
That philosophy also shapes the way he views independent platforms, which he believes perform an important function that can be overlooked when recognition is centred only on labels and major companies. Small radio programmes, mixtape platforms, independent filmmakers and individual connectors can all contribute pieces that eventually become part of a much larger cultural picture.
Film has become an increasingly important part of his current work, including his involvement with Let's Go for Life, an independent Brooklyn project connected with artist and filmmaker C Class. Amsterdam plays the character Shahrod and described the project growing from a web series into a feature-length production that received its own independent cinema premiere.
The project also follows earlier work connected with Respect Life and the late Boom P, giving Amsterdam another link between the relationships he established through music and later opportunities within independent film. Seeing the completed film screened in a cinema reinforced his belief that projects do not always require enormous budgets when people are prepared to contribute time, skill and persistence.
His international connections have largely developed through Hip Hop, although Amsterdam said there is still considerable room for him to collaborate with more European artists and filmmakers. He made clear that his network is open to new talent and encouraged people overseas to make contact rather than assuming established connections in New York are inaccessible.
Music is now becoming a larger personal focus as well, with Young Amsterdam preparing an album titled Amsterdam. After spending years helping other artists present their work, he admitted that putting himself forward as the main artist has required a different mentality and has made him more critical of his own material.
Although he has been around Hip Hop for years, Amsterdam considers this phase of his career relatively new because he only began treating himself seriously as a recording artist recently. People who previously knew him through A&R work, mixtapes, voiceovers, connections and behind-the-scenes activity are now hearing him take a more prominent role on records.
Those early appearances include work with Aguilar and M. Tundra, as well as a contribution to Lefty Pacino's project and material connected with Lex Lakaiser and DJ King Flow. Amsterdam also revealed that he still has access to older King Flow production that was thought to have disappeared after hard-drive failures, opening the possibility of new records built from beats created years earlier.
His recording method relies heavily on physical energy because he prefers hearing a beat while moving and responding instinctively to its rhythm. Amsterdam said some performances develop quickly once he finds that physical connection with the production, including material that began as freestyles rather than carefully written verses.
The forthcoming album is also intended to carry stories from his own life, giving listeners more context about experiences that previously existed mainly in conversations with friends and collaborators. Amsterdam acknowledged that fitting so much history into one record will require discipline, particularly because some memories need to be reconstructed with help from people who were present at the time.
One example came from a period in Providence when Amsterdam and King Flow helped turn a house into an informal meeting place for musicians, producers and other creatives. Sessions, conversations and spontaneous connections from that period later produced material that resurfaced years afterwards, demonstrating how independent work can take on a second life long after the original session.
Both men also discussed surviving years where projects stalled, equipment disappeared, relationships became difficult and abandoning music sometimes appeared easier than carrying on. Reaching Shade 45 together after beginning their connection when King Flow was still a teenager gave them a concrete example of what can happen when a working relationship survives difficult periods.
That history has also led them to discuss assembling a documentary from footage collected across the years. Amsterdam argued that they already possess much of what they need because the strongest element would be the real archive itself, including recordings and evidence of the people, places and projects involved.
His recent independent film premiere strengthened that belief because he saw how a project developed without a major budget could still reach a cinema and give everyone involved a genuine sense of achievement. For Amsterdam, completing something from the ground up can provide value beyond immediate financial return, particularly when the people involved can finally see the finished result in front of an audience.
The most personal section of the interview addressed the period following quarantine, when Young Amsterdam said he lost his immediate family and entered a dark period in his life. He described losing his parents, sister and other relatives as something that altered his thinking profoundly, but said reconnecting with the work and goals that had always been part of him helped him find direction again.
That experience strengthened his belief that difficult periods can be turned into something constructive rather than allowed to end everything a person has built. Amsterdam encouraged anyone struggling with setbacks to slow down, search for another route and avoid assuming that an immediate problem means there is no solution.
He and King Flow also returned to the amount of work they completed while separated by thousands of miles, including numerous mixtapes and other projects developed between Brooklyn and France. Amsterdam used that history as evidence that geography does not have to prevent collaboration when both sides are willing to communicate and keep working.
Looking ahead, Young Amsterdam plans to expand his own platform through the Young Amsterdam Street and R Mix Show while appearing on more outside projects. He also has additional material planned with King Flow, including a three-track project and songs intended for his album, alongside guest appearances with other artists.
Closing the interview, Young Amsterdam presented the conversation less as a complete history than as a reminder that he is still active and building. His central message was simple: obstacles, distance and difficult periods may force somebody to change direction or rest, but they do not have to end the work unless that person chooses to stop.
DJ King Flow & Young Amsterdam Mixtape Addict episode 65
Young Amsterdam - ODB Dedication
Lex Lakaiser, Young Amsterdam & DJ King Flow - International Connection
Young Amsterdam - Not To Be Played Wit
Dnzl Izm & DJ King Flow - On Comprend Pas
El Gant, Copywrite & D1 - Justify
Lefty Pachino - Turn Table
Contageous Funk - No Way Out
Nutso - Trapped [Cuts by Mista Sinista]
Lex Lakaiser - I Still Shine
Obleak & Necro - Haunted (Remix)
Kaan & DJ Hoppa - Comment Section
John Jiggs & Kyo Itachi - Stay Up
Shabaam Sahdeeq, Es-K & Tone Spliff - Cold Truth
Pro Dillinger & Futurewave - Road 2 Riches
DJ King Flow - Interview with Young Amsterdam
Listen on Mixcloud here.