Celebrating Black History: The women who shaped dance music

Most of dance music’s earliest roots are in African-American music from the mid-20th century, and Diana Ross was a pioneer of two separate genres. Her time as the lead vocalist of the Supremes helped to further popularize the genre of r'n'b, but she also dominated with her solo career in 1970 with the release of 'Diana Ross', which featured the legendary disco precursor 'Ain’t No Mountain High Enough'.

Following the releases of four more albums in the '70s, she released a sixth album, 'diana', which was produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. It featured hit tracks 'Upside Down' and 'I’m Coming Out', the latter of which resonated deeply within the LGBT community, most of whom were responsible for continuing the tradition of disco clubs into the house music era of the 1980s. Though she continued to release music after that, Diana Ross had undoubtedly left her mark on the dance music industry already.

After attending the arts school at Columbia College Chicago, Kym Mazelle maintained a steady output of popular tracks throughout the era of Chicago house music, starting with a collaboration with Marshall Jefferson called 'Taste My Love' and a debut album two years later. Her house cover of 'Young Hearts Run Free', recorded for the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, received widespread attention as well. She remains an active vocalist today, releasing a single with Crookers on Defected called 'A Place in My Heart' just last year.

By all definitions, Grace Jones is a renaissance woman. After moving to the United States from Jamaica in the early '60s, she pursued a career in modeling, but acquired a record deal with Island in 1977 and began an intense period of musical output that lasted until her acting career launched in 1985. Her influence in dance music, however, is vast. 'Pull Up To The Bumper' and 'Slave To The Rhythm' both feature different facets of new wave, including spacious electronic production and synth-driven rhythms, as well as clear disco and soul influences. Jones’ stark and always unexpected personal flair has made her a unique tastemaker and a style icon that is known for never holding back.

Strictly Rhythm is a crucial record label in American dance music thanks to its extensive output of music that helped establish the foundation of the scene. Gladys Pizarro is a cofounder of the label and also served as the head of A&R. Considering the impressive list of producers that have graced those wax plates, as well as the prevailing cultural relevance of the music (Louie Vega’s 'Deep Inside' was amongst the sampled tracks on Kanye’s 'TLOP' last year), it’s clear that Pizarro is a driving musical force. She currently runs her own label called Launch.

Dance music owes a debt to Donna Summer, one of the most legendary disco artists of all time. Following the European release of 'Lady of the Night', written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, Summer achieved significant American success with 'Love to Love You, Baby', a track that unapologetically reflected female sexuality through Summer’s sensual vocals, despite it being highly controversial at the time.

Through the end of the American disco era, Summer continued to flood dancefloors with her voice. 1977’s 'I Feel Love', also produced by Moroder, laid the groundwork for house music by juxtaposing synthetic drums with Summer’s familiar-yet-superior vocals. Although her later releases were less impactful, Summer’s career is a cornerstone of dance music.

With Chic at the epitome of the disco movement, both musically and stylistically, Norma Jean Wright, who was at the front of the band during the height of their fame, was undoubtedly a woman to know. She lent her voice to the entire B-side of their first album. She eventually separated from the band and released a self-titled album, with several popular singles produced by Nile Rodgers, including 'Saturday', and a few more in the early '80s.

Though Sugar Hill Records was a funk and hip hop label, it also showcased disco’s impact on the genre. Sylvia Robinson founded the label with her husband Joe and surged into the mainstream with 'Rapper’s Delight' in 1979. The track featured disco-style production by Robinson with a fast tempo, co-written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic. Before the label’s demise in 1986, Sylvia also launched the careers of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who released the slow and loose track 'The Message' on Sugar Hill Records in 1982.

By 1990, house had become an established musical style, but there was still plenty of room for innovation. Like Donna Summer’s 'Love to Love You Baby', Crystal Waters’ 'Gypsy Woman' was originally written for somebody else. Upon hearing her haunting, unpolished voice, record execs decided to release the track as it was, and the song, with its morose synth organ and upbeat percussion, was able to chart at number 8 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Four years later, the more relaxed '100% Pure Love' permeated the national charts, proving Waters’ versatility and vocal talent.

Having grown up with musical parents, Julie McKnight gravitated towards a career in music just before the new millennium. The New York garage favorite 'Finally' by Kings of Tomorrow, with its minimalist production, provided ample space for McKnight to fill with soulful vocals reminiscent of deep house tracks from a decade earlier. The track still evokes nostalgia, and was featured in Mia Hansen-Løve’s 2014 French Touch movie Eden.

Within the modern dance music community, early resident DJs like Larry Levan and David Mancuso are household names. Sharon White shared many of the same stages as these two legends, headlining both the Paradise Garage and the Saint in the 1980s. A recent Village Voice article also noted her status with Billboard as the first woman to hold the title of “DJ Reporter". She maintains a legacy amongst New York clubbers and has been playing gigs as recently as 2016.

First cutting her teeth as a radio DJ in Detroit, DJ Minx is a prominent female voice in the Detroit house scene. As a resident of Club Motor, she gained influence within the community and started her own record label, Women on Wax, in 1996. Since then, she has toured across the States and Europe, hitting Tresor in Berlin, and performs weekly on Detroit’s Deep Space Radio. As both a DJ and an A&R specialist for her label, DJ Minx continues to influence new and emerging artists.