DJ Spinderella Gets Honored at Black Girls Rock! Awards (10.17.09)

Wassup Everybody!

 

Y’all have to excuse my excitement for a few, but I figure I’m going to be on this kick for awhile. Last night, I got the opportunity to attend the 4^th Annual Black Girls Rock! Awards, held at the New York Times Center. For those of you who don’t know, Black Girls Rock! is an non-profit organization that was created by model-turned-celebrity DJ Beverly Bond in response to the images of women that cluttered urban media and brainwashed young girls. She then went on to create programs for young girls to participate in order to give them a creative outlet, invest in their futures and build upon their self-esteem. (NOTE: I actually had the privilege of speaking with Ms. Bond about the organization, the interview transcription will be posted at a later date).

 

It was such an honor to be in the presence of such great, Black women who paved the way for me to be woman that my proud, Black parents pushed me to be, including Dr. Sonia Sanchez (who received the “Legend” Award), Dr. Iyanla Vanzant (recipient of the “Shot Caller” award – and yes, I actually got to chop it up with her on the red carpet!),  to women in my shared age demographic such as Janelle Monae (“Who Got Next” Award) Raven- Symone (“Young, Gifted and Black” Award) and White House Fellow and AIDS activist Dr. Mehret Mandefro (“Community Activist” Award) that showed me that it’s time to STEP MY GAME UP… WAY UP! (::smile::)

 

 

I wrote an event recap to be posted on Rap-Up ‘s website Monday morning (I will shoot the link to this also) but I want to take a minute a two, to give much respect to, a woman who’s made a difference in the hip-hop world! The BGR!’s give out an award every year to an acknowledgeable female DJ, dubbed the “DJ Jazzy Joyce” Award. The pioneering lady DJ was on hand (along with DJ Cocoa Chanel) to present the award in person to this year’s recipient… DJ SPINDERELLA! 

 

Check the footage below of her entire awards acceptance speech. 

 As a writer who definitely considers themselves to be "hip-hop", I was extra amped to witness this in person. Yes, Salt-N-Pepa were one of my favorite groups growing up, but I always thought that Spin possessed "the magic" behind what made the group a great trio. And its true, no other DJ besides her and the late, great, DJ Jam Master Jay (Run-DMC) played such a more prominent role in helping their respective groups catapult to mainstream, world recognition such as she did. However, if you watched VH1's "The Salt-N-Pepa Show" in 2008, you saw as Spin revealed that her struggles, oftentimes feeling like the unrecognized outsider of the trio. I'm glad that Black Girls Rock! decided to applaud her achievements as a group DJ and especially as an entity separate from Salt-N-Pepa.

I should also note that Spinderella  THE HOTTEST DJ NAME EVER. THE END. :) 

Let me know what you think of the vid in the comments below).

Comments

[I am hate]

Great piece! Good to see someone covering this kind of event on their blog. Positive news for a change.

[M-TRI]

That's really DOPE! She definitely deserves that award.