David Bowie Cover of the Week: Robert Dada covers “Golden Years”

AAP Illusions appears to be a creature of the 21st century. It’s a YouTube channel by, or mainly by Robert Dada. Its content appears to only exist on YouTube, and the channel has a large following. As far as I can tell, Dada does not appear live, post his music anywhere else, or even have contact information. I often like to reach out to the artist before featuring their covers, but in this case I don’t see how.

That said, this cover of “Golden Years” feels like a real production, complete with an intricate video and a sense of bigness about it. I’m not sure if it was Dada’s intention, but his images of a golden world seem to suggest a subtle political point having to do with a certain someone who likes to adorn everything he sees with gold (and I don’t mean Goldfinger!)

According to AAP Illusions’ YouTube channel, AAP Illusions is “a showcase of visual, sound & literary art” that often explores “the mysterious, sinister or even macabre aspects of the human condition.” The channel says most of its work is intended to be taken seriously and may have a visceral quality, although some of it is humorous while retaining a darker tone. I don’t think the cover of the song itself adds any darkness to the song, though the song is subtly quite cold. If my read of this video is correct, it shows how too much gold can actually be ugly, perhaps equating excess wealth with ugliness. Maybe I’m reading too much into it.

AAP Illusions also emphasizes that it does not monetize its content, “troll for likes,” or seek popularity or success as defined by YouTube influencers, describing the channel instead as “a willful and deliberate outreach to the public, done so in the absence of profit driven motives.” Its stated tagline is: “The World Is In Turmoil, And We Score The Soundtrack.”

The AAP Illusions YouTube channel identifies this video as part of the Robert Dada video album 2026: Full Cover-Age.