Sippin’ T is the co-founder of the QTIPOC and curatorial collective and club night BBZ. One of our favourite DJs, they are also a driving force in representation and rights for the queer POC community. Currently based in Jamaica, Sippin’ T has created a mix for HOWL ZINE’s debut issue, inspired by the theme of LIBERATION.
As well as making an incredible mix for us, we spoke to them briefly about life in lockdown, queer black culture, and the importance of community.
2020 has definitely been a year that has challenged our feelings of freedom. How are you finding ways to maintain a level of creative expression?
I think this year has really made people interrogate their understanding of freedom and what it means to them as individuals. If we go by the capitalist, patriarchal, heteronormative benchmark of “freedom“ I can’t say black queer bodies have ever fully benefitted from this. So it’s been refreshing witnessing myself and others move away from traditional societal views of Freedom and into personal and collective understandings of liberation. This in turn has elevated my creative practice. I am no longer restricting my output and far more willing to be vulnerable and experiment with my emotions knowing that I am the beginning and ending of my own liberation.
It’s clear that community is at the heart of all you and BBZ do. What or who is inspiring you within Black Queer culture and what can we expect from 2021?
The combo of Blackness and Queerness are a never ending source of inspiration, light and learning for me. I’m proud of the consistency. Pre-Corona, black queer communities were spearheading & invested in mutual aid, grassroots support systems & crowd funding for marginalized folk. During Corona we have been beacons of light and blueprints for many outside of this immediate community due to our experience of living in the margins, and post-Corona we’ll still be at it
Tell us about the mix. What’s the idea behind it and the ideal listening environment?
Imagine yourself post wank, coitus or whatever it is that gives you that warm gushy feeling. You’re basking in that glow and still feeling yourself, goosebumps still present. This mix allows you to marinate and wriggle in that moment until you’re gently carried back into this dimension.
Tracklist
1. Like ft. Vegyn - Duval Timothy
2. Moesh (Feat. Dips & Lo-Wu) - Lex Amor
3. Incomplete Kisses - Sampha
4. A Different Time [ft George Riley] - Fauzia
5. Eyesdown (feat. Andreya Triana) - Bonobo
6. Handle - Ojerime
7. I Want You - Children of Zeus
8. Anything feat. Alexandria - Asmara
9. Doep - ARCA
10. Granadilla - Pelada
11. When It's All Over [with Kelela] - Fauzia
12. Noite Após Noite (feat. VHOOR) - Sango
13. Kick back (feat. Wynter) - Cktrl
14. Empty - Ojerime
15. Better Than I Imagined (Feat. H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello) - Robert Glasper
16. Tell Me (feat. Steve Lacy) - Peyton
17. Sango - Oshun
Follow Sippin' T on Instagram and Twitter, and make sure to follow our 1-800-MAKE-ME-HOWL series on Mixcloud for more bedroom mixes from our community.
