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4 Female Electronic DJs To See This Summer

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Photo: Cristobal Guerra Naranjo

The DJ world is a boys club. Line ups are dominated by men and the Resident Advisor Top 100 poll of 2015 featured just nine women (none of whom are in the top ten.) But, at last, the tide is turning. Female artists such as The Black Madonna and Honey Dijon are, deservedly, getting a lot of hype right now and fast becoming the must-see acts of the summer. They're outspoken, talented and extremely experienced music selectors. But why has it taken so long?

Well, there are a few ways of looking at it. One is you take the traditional [read: inherently sexist] view that girls don't like technical things. Being a producer these days (which is how many DJs get their gigs) involves sitting on your own in a room, spending hours on a computer, often making music using very nerdy software. In many ways, it's no different to being a programmer, which historically has been a very male pursuit.

The other point is that electronic music is a massive patriarchy and perhaps a lot of women get intimidated out of it by men. As one male DJ said: "Men are really competitive with their knowledge and you often hear them questioning whether women have made their own music or got someone else to do it for them." With attitudes like this, it's no wonder women are put off from entering the industry.

Depressingly, there's also an expectation for women to look the part. Famous female music stars often look polished – they have a team of make-up artists and stylists. DJs, however, are constantly appearing in front of crowds of people having not slept and living out of a suitcase. It's not like being a pop star; you don't have a dressing room. Most DJs are on their own. As the unnamed DJ said: "If I show up at a gig, looking like shit, the promoters say, 'oh you legend, you had a big one'. I don't think it's like that for women." Similarly, as Marea Stamper, aka The Black Madonna, says, there are also practical concerns she encounters as a woman that make her feel unsafe. When she’s in a club, she says she has to watch her drink and she fears herself or girlfriends being touched inappropriately. Plus, working nights in cities she doesn’t know means she is always wondering if her ride back to the hotel will be safe. "There are just some factual things about working in this industry that all women have to face," she says.

However, despite the negativity (or perhaps because of it?) the women that have become successful female producers and DJs out there are really breaking the mould. It may have taken some of them longer to get where they are today, working in clubs, and running radio shows, but we think it's worth the wait. Here's the lowdown on the current crop of U.S. female DJs making it big in Europe.

Camea

One of the underground’s most consistently respected talents, the Seattle native is also a classical trained jazz pianist and music instrument extraordinaire. She left Brooklyn for Berlin in 2007 and her career took off after she started her own record label, the illustrious minimal and techno label, Clink Recordings. She frequently plays at Berghain's Panorama Bar and she's recently turned her attention back to her role as label head having taken a few years out to concentrate on studio work and gigging. Watch this space for more new releases this year.

Listen to Camea's latest mix here.

soundcloud.com/camea

Photo: Camea

Honey Dijon

The Chicago native is one of the few DJs in recent years to defy pigeon-holing. She grew up in the 1970s on the South Side of Chicago and by the age of 12 she was sneaking into clubs with the permission of her music-loving parents (and under the condition she kept up with her schoolwork) before eventually making a name for herself on the underground scene in New York. She draws from a wide repertoire of musical styles (techno, house and disco, for starters) and produces and has releases on Classic Records. She also has a radio show on Boiler Room. As well as being a must-see DJ, she's a transgender woman and a style icon. She's featured in Vogue Italia's 'look of the day', made music for the Louis Vuitton runway and been featured in a film by the legendary Antony Hegarty.

soundcloud.com/honeydijon

Photo: Honey Dijon

The Black Madonna

Kentucky's Marea Stamper isn't just a DJ. She's the talent buyer for Chicago's Smart Bar, one of the best clubs in North America, a successful producer and the 37th best DJ in the world, according to the RA poll. She's also a vocal feminist, an outspoken advocate for the gay community and a strong believer in offender rehabilitation. Stamper left school at 16 to work in the music industry and sell mixtapes, before returning to education when she was in her 20s. While trying to make it as a DJ, she worked as a copywriter and an assistant in a club. It took her 15 years to become the now massive success she is today and it couldn't be more richly deserved.

soundcloud.com/theblackmadonna

Photo: Black Madonna

DJ Haram

The Philadelphia producer is the latest signing to the feminist DJ collective and booking agency, Discwoman, which has played a part in helping her, and other young women like her, break into the music industry. She's a big deal on Philly's club and art scene and her latest track "Birds of Paradise " will make your day.

soundcloud.com/djharam

Photo: Cristobal Guerra Naranjo

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