INSANE GAY ASYLUM MIX BY OLDYUNGMAYN

Andrew Pasquier: What are we listening to?
Hussein Karim: I think it’s the BUTT magazine sound.
What would you what would you describe as the BUTT magazine sound? No wrong answers.
Very kitschy and slutty at the same time – but the good kitsch, you know? I just had to include that ‘Paris is Burning’ excerpt at the beginning. Or, there’s this track I play in the middle of the mix that’s very tribal, drums vibes. It’s very Brazilian Carnaval. A bit circuit gay. Just a bit…
Well, period. So, how’s your Berlin life?
Honestly, my life is pretty good but…can I speak personally?
Duh. Please.
Well, my life has only been better the last six months since I received my acceptance letter for asylum. I came to Germany as a refugee. So, finally, the past six months my life has been really amazing. Like a honeymoon. I don’t have to live with the fear of being deported. Now I’m getting lots of gigs. Meeting a lot of people. I’m really happy to be here.
What was your asylum process like?
To be honest, I had to go through hell. It was a hard two years.
Did you have any organizations or lawyers supporting you?
Nobody, really. I hired a couple of lawyers, but they couldn’t help much. I mostly did everything myself.
Did the government force you to go to a migration camp? That’s the case in the Netherlands for asylum seekers.
They did, but I refused. I was going through a lot of mental health issues, and I told them I’d be worse off in a camp than with my boyfriend in Berlin. And they compromised saying, ‘Okay, we’re not going to pay for your rent or other support, but you can live wherever you want.’ Ultimately, it was a much better scenario. Being in the camp would have been terrible. I applied for “homosexuality” reasons. It’s a category within the German system.
Well, congrats on being homosexual enough! Do you think getting your case approved would be more difficult now given Germany’s fraught relationship to Palestinens?
I actually don’t hold a Palestinian passport. I hold an Egyptian passport. If I had a Palestinian passport, my asylum would have been rejected.

That’s fucked up. Back to music – where and when did you start DJing?
I started deejaying in 2016. I was living in Dubai.
What was the scene like there?
I mean, there was almost no scene at all. Yet at the same time lots of incredible musicians. But it’s hard to make anything happen there. I played this one dubstep and UK bass party. That was my first time I ever touched a deejay controller.
Do you have better sex in Berlin or Dubai?
To be honest, the sex in Dubai is better.
More underlying repression?
Exactly. That feeling like you’re doing something taboo, under watch, makes the sex better. It’s more charged.
If you had one thing to tell BUTT readers, what would it be?
Fuck pinkwashing.
What does pinkwashing look like to you? Is that something you’ve struggled with as a queer Arab?
Prior to October 7, I used to fight and argue with a lot of people. People would say ignorant things to me like, ‘you would have been killed by now if you were living in Palestine.’ At the moment, with all that’s happened, I don’t think I am in the headspace to constantly educate people. Thankfully, the places where I go are usually political and pro-Palestinian. My friends and the crowd I’m in are very knowledgeable about the subject.
Do you feel that since October 7 there has been a shift in consciousness in queer nightlife around Israeli pinkwashing?
Yeah, of course. But I’ve also gotten a lot of threats on the dating apps here in Germany just because I have a watermelon on my profile and I’m brown. Unsolicited, people write you shitty things. Last week, this guy was messaging me on Grindr. I wasn’t interested. He asked, ‘Where are you from?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I’m Palestinian.’ He told me, ‘Go back to your country.’ Which ironically he probably would say doesn’t deserve to exist.
That’s ugly.
Yeah. My boyfriend Mike – he’s really great – just received a letter from the Berlin police ordering him to report to the station because he has been posting “pro-Palestinian” stuff which, for them, is automatically considered “anti-Semitic.”
Oh my God.
A lot of activists here are being watched by the police. Pro-Israeli activists also prowl the internet and report people to the authorities. It’s like a police state.
People love claiming that Berlin is “over”. Do you think, with the political situation, that’s actually true?
I mean, it’s honestly overwhelming here. But it’s amazing too. I knew a lot of people already in the music scene way before I moved here. I’ve found my way into a scene. It’s beautiful.
What are you looking forward to?
A free Palestine.