Mind, Body & Soul: New York club night Soul Connection is honouring the overlooked Black women of house music

Functions is our monthly interview series profiling parties from across the world. This month we meet: Soul Connection.

House music, at its core, is for everyone. Though the much-recounted story of house's history traces back decades to venues like Chicago's Warehouse, music gear like the Roland TR-808, and of course, the ‘forefathers’ of house music itself including the likes of Larry Levan, Marshall Jefferson, and Frankie Knuckles, that's just half the story.

As Brooklyn DJ Lovie tells us, her education on house music and New York’s nightlife history drew her attention to “major gaps in the representation of Black women in the scene”. While names like Robin S, Crystal Waters, and Ultra Naté are well regarded for providing vocals on some of dance music’s greatest hits, many female contributors to the sound, and DJs in particular, faced numerous barriers to success, and have been written out of the history books time and time again despite fighting hard for their recognition in shaping the scene.

Read this next: The unsung Black women pioneers of house music

Lovie, along with fellow New York DJ Honey Bun, responded to this lack of representation with their joint party series Soul Connection, which first emerged in 2021. "We wanted to figure out how we could learn more about this music, while throwing a party that honoured it," Lovie explains. "One that ensured Black women would have a comfortable space to thrive behind the booth and on the dancefloor.”

After connecting through Brookyln’s influential station The Lot Radio, the pair threw their first party in the summer of 2021 with the promise to connect "minds, bodies, and souls". The party has since gained momentum with a policy of booking exclusively Black femme DJs, and a goal to make the dancefloor a free and feel-good place.

In those few years since launching, they’ve enlisted a number of New York heavyweights including JADALAREIGN, Ayanna Heaven, and Kilopatrah Jones on their line-ups, as well as LA legend DJ Rashida, Chicago’s CTRLZORA and London’s Ella Knight, bringing Soul Connection across renowned venues like Good Room, Nowadays, and Friends & Lovers. Their journey has also taken them across the Atlantic, performing earlier this year at the legendary Parisian house club Djoon, landing shows on Rinse France and London's Balamii (the latter was later heralded as one Mixmag's top mixes of 2024), and even saw them join forces with London collective and curatorial platform Touching Bass to host a night alongside Helena Star, Alex Rita, and Saige Sounds.

We sat down with Soul Connection founders Lovie and Honey Bun to chat about their motivations behind launching the party, creating a safe space on the dancefloor, and the importance of acknowledging dance music’s Black roots. Check it out below.

Tell us the story about how you two first met...

HB: I heard Lovie playing Destiny’s Child on her show, and I knew we needed to connect. I saw there was a night coming up at Nowadays where Gabrielle Kwarteng was playing, I invited her to join me and we realised we wanted to create the same kind of dancefloors together. The rest is history!

L: Yeah, we both have resident shows on The Lot Radio and had stumbled across one another’s work. I think what brought us together is that we’re both drawn to worldbuilding through music. My show, Summer School Radio, is its own’s world, and Honey Bun’s Buntopia is a universe in itself as well. It only felt natural that we’d want to explore the kind of world we could make together.

Does Soul Connection have a particular vibe or ethos?

We believe in a body, mind, and soul connection through music, where Black women are at the forefront of what we do, who we book, and what we play. We want women to feel that this music is just as much theirs, so we do whatever we can to make the dancefloor a fun, sweet, feel-good place. We book exclusively Black femme DJs, and give them free rein and a great soundsystem to do their thing.

How would you describe the experience of being at a Soul Connection party for someone who’s never been before, what does it feel like on the dancefloor?

L: I would describe Soul Connection as the slumber party that your older, fly cousin is throwing downstairs. On this particular night, she invited you to join, and it’s your first time hearing music that will change your life forever.

HB: Period.

What genres of music are played at your parties? Would you say Soul Connection sticks to house music, or does it change night by night?

L: The party was born from a deep, soulful house sound, so we always bring it back to that. ‘90s house with female vocals, R&B classics, etc. But we leave so much room for variation.

HB: The sound can shift depending on the venue. Here in Brooklyn, we move between Nowadays and Good Room. I love the contrasting rooms of Good Room, they allow us to book more DJs in one night, and we can touch on a wider array of sounds. That’s where we tend to stretch out sonically – our nights at Nowadays are a bit more focused with smaller line-ups, and we usually play off a particular theme. There, we’ve had nights dedicated to Diana Ross, Donna Summer, and Soul Train. The room and system are so unique, we enjoy the challenge of finding that perfect sonic sweet spot when we play there.

If you could play someone one track to transport them to the middle of a Soul Connection dancefloor, what would it be?

L: Diana Ross' 'Love Hangover'.

HB: Janet Jackson's 'Throb'.

What’s the crowd like at your parties? Do you find that putting the focus on Black femme DJs brings a different crowd to your other shows and parties?

We often get feedback that our dancefloor is sweet, fun, and refreshing. We’re both very intentional artists, and we’ve been really deliberate about communicating the kind of dancefloor we want to make with Soul Connection. The nights that feel the most aligned are the ones where we look out and see women roll up in groups of their friends – they got ready together, they put their S.C. baby tees on, and they make sure no one feels excluded.

Before every party we post our guidelines which start off with: 'Soul Connection is about a mind, body, soul, and heart connection through music. In order to ensure this experience for everyone, we ask all attendees to honour the following...'. We ultimately can’t totally control who enters every night, but there is always an air of respect and care in the room.

What has been your favourite Soul Connection party to date and why?

L: I think my favourite night was Soul Connection’s debut at Nowadays in February 2024. It started a beautiful new chapter for us. JADALAREIGN, who works as a booker at Nowadays, suggested we take the night after Valentine’s Day and go with a ‘Love Hangover’ theme. We booked Kfeelz and Jenifa Mayanja, Kfeelz is an incredible young talent here in New York with such a groovy, intellectual sound, and bringing Jenifa on gave us an opportunity to honour a Black woman in our community who's been doing this for almost as long as we’ve been alive. That night felt like a true manifestation of what we had dreamed about when we first conceptualised Soul Connection a few years ago.

HB: Our Juneteenth parties are always so fun. That weekend seems to really mark the start of summer in Brooklyn, and people really show out. The first year we had some of our favourite Brooklyn divas play, Kilopatrah Jones, Ella Hu$$le, Aqutie, DJ Shannon, and ourselves. This year, we had Alex and Errol of Touching Bass make their New York debut with us and it was poppin’.

Are there any other crews, either in the US or globally, that inspire you?

HB: We recently collaborated with Mood to Move and Deep South ATL in Atlanta this past September. They're both doing incredible work curating house parties in the south, maintaining safe queer spaces, and also educating younger generations on the Black roots of dance music. We joined house legend Debbie Graham in a beautiful backyard beer garden and had the most magical time.

L: We keep a list of parties we want to collaborate with and divas we want to book. I’m really excited by Ascendance in New Orleans, BLACKPPLCHURCH in Texas, and Party Noire in Chicago. All beautiful spaces made by Black dancers for Black dancers.

This summer I was lucky enough to catch you guys at Colour Factory in East London with the Touching Bass crew for a wicked night. I also saw you did a show in Paris – how did those opportunities come about, and what was the experience like of bringing the party to a new continent?

We’d always imagined expanding the party outside of NYC in hopes to connect with others of our global Black diaspora, and those who share a similar interest in creating comfortable spaces for women on dancefloors. Honey Bun had spent some time in Paris in the past, and Lovie in London, so it felt natural we start with both of these cities. It took several months, and lots of no’s from venues before the right ones said yes. We certainly learned a lot about how bookings and logistics work in Europe through this process, and feel pretty proud of ourselves working it out without agents representing us in those areas. Both parties featured collaborations with local kindred spirits, Touching Bass in London, and Bande De Filles in Paris.

We were connected with LeLeon and Najeet of Bande De Filles through Adrien of Paris nightclub Djoon, and joined them for their May residency night at the club. The dancefloor was a bit light due to a holiday in France that weekend (we learned the Parisians take their holidays very seriously and leave the city), but to us, it felt airy, intimate, and warm. It was lovely to share space with two other femme DJs, an ocean away from us, but with a similar drive and mission behind why they play. Djoon is also such a special, a one-of-a-kind club for house music, it was really a blessing that our party found a home there.

Read this next: Back from the dead: Paris' club scene has a new beating heart

The planning for London really started with Saige Sounds. Our soul sister and phenomenal selector, she embodies the sonic and spiritual connection we needed to bring the party to London. Again, after lots of no’s, we found the perfect yes from Colour Factory. We noticed an immediate sense of familiarity in working with them, they reminded us a lot of our home clubs here in Brooklyn, and they're a Black-owned venue. We’d love to take the credit for our iconic link up with Touching Bass but it was in fact Colour Factory’s idea to team up with them. Lovie already had an existing relationship with Alex and Errol, so it all came together smoothly. A highlight of that party was our line-up of new mothers! Both Helena Star and Alex Rita had just recently made this life transition, and we were so happy to have them both open the party for the first time since their births. The entire night was a dream and we felt a deep connection with the culture and people of London.

Did you notice any differences or similarities – did the vibe translate across? Was there anything that surprised you?

In Paris, the night started at midnight and ran until around 6:AM. We’d never played the party between these hours, in Brooklyn most clubs run from 10:PM to 4:AM. It was a bit of an adjustment, but ultimately refreshing to get into some deep house, deep into the morning. Knowing of Djoon’s reputation and YouTube series is one thing, but actually being in the space was very surreal. It was super inspiring to be in a club solely devoted to soulful house music.

London felt so much like home. It was pure vibes and laughs – Lovie had to get on the mic at 4:AM to a room full of people to tell them how much we wished we could keep going. They were fully there with us! We didn’t know what to expect of the turnout, or if our intentions would translate overseas, but that’s the beauty of partnering with parties with a similar ethos to your own. Touching Bass made sure we’d be in good hands with their community of dancers and we certainly were. It was really special.

Finally, what’s next for Soul Connection?

We have a dream line-up planned for Valentine’s Day next year at Nowadays – including someone we deeply admire who has been a constant source of inspiration to the party and our individual careers as DJs. We are also bringing the party to a few new venues in Brooklyn. It’s always fun to adjust the sound and curation to the architecture and the soundsystem of different venues, so we're really looking forward to that challenge. We’d love to get back to London sometime next year along with a few other countries and cities in America. With the new administration taking office here in the US next year, it’s going to become even more important to have loving, intentional spaces for Black women to express themselves freely and vehemently on the dancefloor and behind the booth.

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Jamaal Johnson is a freelance writer, follow him on Instagram