3 Questions: DJ Lynnee Denise

I first came to know the music of DJ Lynnee Denise in the Bay Area while loosing track of space and time on the dance floor of one of her legendary Wildseed parties. Every Wednesday there would be a pilgrimage of the devoted from Oakland to a small little Brazilian restaurant in Frisco. There we would dance and soak cheek to cheek, hip to hip, boy and girl, girl and girl , boy and boy, person to person. The windows were fogged and in them were messages written backwards for the outside world to see “Dance My People Dance”. This is one reason why I asked DJ Lynee to spin the February U People Mixtape and thought she also could answer these three questions:

1. When was the first time you experienced the sensation of love (outside the context of a lover). Tell the story of when you experienced love in the way that it defined it for you?

One of my first memories of love came when I discovered my parents album collection. I thought i was deeply in love with hip hop, but when I discovered that hip hop’s parents were–rock, soul, jazz, reggae, blues…I was truly in love with all of these sounds. I felt like i was finally being allowed to participate in the larger conversation of music as a universal
language.

2. What is the heaviest thing you ever carried and when did you put it down?

The heaviest thing i’ve ever carried was guilt about past mistakes. I put it down when i began to trust the idea that I, like all other humans, had the ability to learn, change and grow. I’m lighter now.

3. When did you accept the title artist and how have you defined that for yourself?

When i turned 30 years old, something happened. I became more aware of the discipline, focus and balance it required to truly hear my voice as an artist. Before then I felt like I had a voice, but that it was an echo of someone else’s voice. I accepted the title artist about two years
ago. I define artist as a person who is not only paying attention to the details of what’s happening, but developing new tools and forms of expression that help us all unlearn and reapply what we’ve known for centuries….something divine lives within.

More info on DJ Lynnee Denise

Check this snippet of DJ Lynnee Denise’s eclectic mix for the February U People Download Card.

Get your U People Download Mixtape Card Here

February Track List
1. A La Ronde Jianda.
2. Do You Mind Hanifah
3. Always Nice Jianda
4. Free Prelude Jill Scott
5. happily ever after
6. Aqurarium Meshell Nedege O’cello
7. The Hours lynnee denise–featuring malena perez
8. obsession battle groove
9. nights over egypt the jones girl
10. human behavior bjork
11.paper thin mc lyte
12. Estrellas (Re-Bound) lynnee denise
13. the women gather nikki giovanni
14. starr people ebb mix fertile ground
15. Where I want to go Tarray Reynolds
16. Believer Onliest
17. I want More Cassandra Wilson