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As a member of pioneering hip-hop group Salt-n-Pepa, DJ Spinderella sold over 15 million albums and singles, and toured the world. In recent years she has thrown herself into the Spinderella DJ Academy, encouraging and promoting female artists and producers.
Last Saturday, at the ceremony honoring her as the first female recipient of the Global Spin lifetime achievement award, she offered a golden opportunity to an up-and-coming Dallas artist – her daughter, DJ Christy Ray. Ray will see the performance for the first time along with the rest of the country when the ceremony airs at 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, on Sean Combs’ cable network, Revolt TV.
DJ Spinderella accepting her lifetime achievement award.
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Ray performed on stage at the star-studded ceremony at New Orleans’ Orpheum Theatre. “It was very fun, yet also very surreal and overwhelming at the same time,” Ray says. “I mean DJ Khaled was in the audience watching me. I love and admire DJ Khaled, so it was definitely a different feeling to have him watch me perform.”
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Spinderella, whose real name is Deidra Roper, and her daughter have called Dallas home since 2010. Although she’s performed at Dallas clubs such as Beauty Bar and Off the Record, playing such a hectic, large-scale production was a first for Ray. “The segment was only two minutes or so long but it felt like an eternity,” she says. “I’ll be interested to watch the recording, not just to pay attention to the sounds, but also to take stock of everyone’s reactions from the audience.”
Spinderella and Christy Ray walk the red carpet
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Ray wants to build on any momentum she gained in New Orleans, where she and her mom also played NBA All-Star Weekend events, and be an even more active presence in Dallas’ music scene throughout 2017. “I love Dallas because I have never moved to a place that so quickly felt like home,” she says. “There’s a community here that I feel a part of and that community has really embraced me, which I am greatly appreciative of.”
One project Ray is working on is a monthly all-female DJ event that echoes the work of her mother. The first event is tentatively scheduled for March 4, and will take place at the Candleroom with DJ Ivy of the Mavs on board as co-host. “There are so many talented people in the area, whether they’re DJs, musicians, or artists, there is just so much artistic power,” she says.
