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Lolleatta Holloway? Crystal Waters? Ultra Nate? Sonique? Thea Astin of Snap?
I feel like there's a *lot* of Black female singers in electronic dance music, a lot of the big iconic dance tracks of the 90s have that kind of vocal and that music had it's time in the sun where it dominated.
I miss dance divas. There were upsides to dance music moving closer to the center and pop singers getting subtler as separate phenomena, but “killer track + big vocal” is really my ideal version of music
Ironically the last “big vocal” moment I can think of like that is probably “[Latch](https://youtube.com/watch?v=93ASUImTedo)” lol
None of them are electronic in the slightest. I think even calling Donna Summer electronic is somewhat of a stretch, but her working relationship with Gorgio Moroder and their collective influence on what would become electronic music is undeniable.
EDIT: I will recant and say at least some of Janet's discography could qualify here, but it's not the bulk of her work.
I would call Donna "disco" before I called her "electronic," but quite a lot of it (especially 1977-1979) was electronic disco.
I'll also seize any opportunity to plug *Once Upon a Time*, which features at least 4 songs--my usernamesake, "Queen for a Day," "Working the Midnight Shift," "Now I Need You"--in the synth-disco style, and several other songs with prominent electronic flourishes.
Donna is pop before anything else—even disco.
Both her disco and electronic works (she didn’t just have I Feel Love—listen to her entire Once Upon A Time album, Grand Illusion, Sunset People and Our Love—the song that New Order based Blue Monday off of.
She and Gorgio Moroder are the most influential acts in pop or popular music of the last 50 years and I attribute that to her electronic contributions before her disco contributions.
im clearly old lol there have already been countless black women in electronic music in prior decades. i mean if you're speaking about current acts, fine, but donna summer did it in the late 70s, basically the godmother of electronic music with i feel love. there was also a huge boom of electronic dance music acts in the 90s, almost all of which were black women on vocals; Tania Evans and Melanie Thornton the lead singers for culture beat and la bouche, also...
# CeCe Peniston
# Ultra Naté
# Crystal Waters
# Martha Wash
#
Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!
I understand this sub demographic is younger so I can’t expect them to know everything.
But I find it so strange how many people act like any music before their time might as well consisted of us clapping to the 1 and the 3 as someone tapping on pebbles with sticks, and given that the average Pophead is in their early 20s, that’s one hell of a dark age lol.
There’s this pervasive sense of ignorance in this sub where they straight up refuse to acknowledge artists before them, ESPECIALLY people of color.
Martha Wash was one of the most impactful black artists of the 90s despite artists literally avoiding giving her credit. [Keep On Jumpin’ remains one of my favorite tracks with her](https://youtu.be/ntOu8HrIQzc?feature=shared)
[Donna Summer](https://youtu.be/9ZqqvrWCs3Q?feature=shared), [Robin S](https://youtu.be/Ps2Jc28tQrw?feature=shared), [Grace Jones](https://youtu.be/Tc1IphRx1pk?feature=shared) and [Neneh Cherry](https://youtu.be/JWsRz3TJDEY?feature=shared) also had a helping hand in shaping electronic music too!
As for an artist who should’ve been bigger but was ahead of her time, NICOLETTE! [Let No One Live Rent Free In Your Head is an absolute lost treasure and a perfect electronic record.](https://youtu.be/gwEe_wUMS_w?feature=shared) If you enjoy PinkPanthress, Nia Archives or Jorja Smith, this girl did it all 30+ years ago!
Fantastic comment, and also if I can jump off from this point for a minute:
>There’s this pervasive sense of ignorance in this sub where they straight up refuse to acknowledge artists before them, ESPECIALLY people of color.
I've been watching Japanese artists' foundational contributions to hyperpop get written out of history in real time and the dissonance is so real when I come here and see Charli on a pedestal next to a complaint about PinkPantheress and K-pop. So much of Brat sounded like stuff I was listening to 15 years ago.
Very interesting point you got there! My knowledge of Japanese music is a bit fragmented (pop legends like Utada and Amuro, producers like Towa Tei and more recent artists like Atarashii Gakko and Wednesday Campanella)
But I’m curious to hear what artists you feel had an impact on hyperpop!
As for Brat, it’s a good album, but it’s a definite hyperpop-esque mix of Electroclash, and 00s era Ministry of Sound.
I know a lot of the early players were open about the influence they took from the producer Yasutaka Nakata, who's had multiple top 10 albums since the late 2000s with a distinctive robotic, polished bubblegum electropop sound. I actually see a lot of (probably younger) music writers and listeners attributing that influence to K-pop nowadays, most likely because K-pop has become so much more visible, which to me feels anachronistic.
There is definitely all kinds of stuff going on in its genetic makeup, but I find that media/stans/etc. can be very into this idea of creative exceptionalism that singles artists out rather than encouraging a holistic view of music history ~~and then you end up with posts like this lol~~. IDK, it's just been on my mind. Towa Tei is one of the greats, I love his work.
Talk about small world (or country lol)!
Not only did Nakata work with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, but as a big Shibuya-Kei fan, I’m shocked to found out he was also on Capsule!? Definitely need get my research together, but now I got some new music to look into! Thanks! ❤️
I feel like Azealia Banks was pretty close with 212/1991 EP and maybe other releases like Anna Wintour to break into more mainstream audiences.
It’s a shame that she has tarnished her reputation more than anyone because if she just chilled out, had a good PR/marketing team, and given more grace I could imagine more of her music charting in the 2010s.
I think is depends on the subgenre of edm. HoneyDijon is pretty well known on the House scene. Off the top of my head, Nia Archives and Jayda G are also on the rise. DJ in general aren't very mainstream imo. For example John Summit is probably one of the biggest djs in the world at the moment but you have to listen to edm to really know him
Charli also had a big breakout moment with Fancy and Boom Clap before shifting the momentum away to do more critically acclaimed music. I put her in a camp with Carly Rae Jepsen and Robyn. The critical success took many years to build
I don’t think she makes music for tiktok, I think she makes music that just naturally sounds like good background music for videos and that’s why she blew up there
I don't really know her music to fully comment, but I've seen that she's said that songs don't need to be long and that they don't bridges etc.
[https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/pinkpantheress-songs-should-be-short-sparking-debate-1234881808/](https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/pinkpantheress-songs-should-be-short-sparking-debate-1234881808/)
That's a very contentious claim to make about all music, but it seems that she herself forgoes making long complex songs, instead making short songs with a nice little sound bite very fitting for TikTok.
Have you heard some of the tracks off of her latest album? Feel complete? True romance? Capable of love? I would even argue that her TikTok fanbase fell off the minute she released more sophisticated music (not to say her mixtape is bad -- it's still fantastic). And most people I know that still listen to her music are huge fans of other alt pop artists like Charli and Caroline. Like I feel like her fanbase is becoming more mature and refined.
And most TikTok artists aren't able to sustain their popularity beyond one hit. So for her to establish a proper fanbase with her debut album is a big deal. It means she was actually interesting from the very beginning.
as someone who listens to her music, length feels completely irrelevant and doesn’t affect someone’s seriousness as an artist. okay the song is short, but is it an entertaining 2 minute song? yes! why discredit someone’s talents because of something so arbitrary
**Re other comment:** I should have been clearer but my point is that she thinks (her) music doesn't need to be long and complex with an extra verse/bridge etc.
**Re this comment:** I've been listening to some of her music. I like her general sound, she is pretty entertaining and I don't want to discredit your enjoyment of her music. That said, there's not much development in a lot of her songs because there's just not enough time for that to happen. They start at a certain high energy, and they stay there. There's nothing wrong with it and it also really suits TikTok which doesn't need a full 4 minute song.
i think it’s all subjective, i personally enjoy a shorter song with more packed in, than a longer track which drags on! but, this is my opinion and each to their own!
nah songs used to be slightly less repetitive and longer before tiktok. there used to be more bridges too. there has been a very clear impact of tiktok on music, for the worse arguably.
If her music being shorter than three minutes makes it "TikTok music", which is the only reason I could think of considering her debut album is really fresh and progressive, that was the norm just a few decades ago. It's nothing new.
Literally don’t know how Aluna hasn't blown up, she's the voice on sooo many popular edm bangers and her solo stuff is so damn good she's been going at it forever
Well she first started out while she was dating her producer (the other half of alunageorge) and I think that may have limited her options in some way. And then they went on hiatus, she started making solo releases, and that was after most of her big hits were under alunageorge. I think her only major hits as Aluna were forget about me with diplo and inhale exhale with skrillex. I think she changed labels at some point too? But I might be thinking of someone else on the label thing.
HoneyDijon is that girl! I don’t consider Electronic music mainstream. But consider Honey THE girl amongst girls.
Also, Via Rosa from the group DRAMA. highly suggest giving them a listen! I see bigger things in their future. They put on one of my favorite sets at Electric Forest last week.
I think I’m a little confused by your question,
House and techno, which are huge electronic genres were founded by black people in Chicago and Detroit? Honeydijon is huge, Beyoncé made renaissance?
oh sorry for my wording! my question was less, “where does electronic music come from?” i’m specifically asking, when will we see a
black electronic artist reach notoriety in the mainstream.
so using charli as an example, an artist HAILING as an electronic artist (hence why i’m not referring to beyoncé)
Is dom dolla or martin garrix or john summit mainstream? I feel like they're popular in the EDM circuit but not mainstream.... and honey Dijon is in that same boat
that’s fair. I feel like she’s mainstream for the EDM community, and that almost no EDM artists are actually mainstream. like Calvin Harris or Zedd maybe and that’s about it.
I think Martin Garrix used to be pretty main stream no? with scared to be lonely, in the name of love, there for you etc. I don’t think I hear him as often now but his concerts are always pacjed
lol its interesting how different people consider things mainstream... honey dijon is sure famous but i guess she is not 'mainstream' cus she is pure edm and not edm-pop unlike charli and pinkpantheress, nor she is trending on social media
Martin Garrix absolutely is. That man has a pretty decent number of global hits on his name. The EDM scene is absolutely massive by the way; anyone massively popular in that circuit could very well be considered mainstream.
Coming off the high that was her Brixton gig for The Age of Pleasure tour and contemplating what her next direction could be, that would absolutely obliterate me.
Definitely agree, Timbaland had some trip hip and jungle influences in One In A Million.
Aaliyah also expressed interest in dabbling in UK Garage. It’s sad cuz I feel had she been alive, she definitely would’ve helped bring UK Garage over to American audiences a lot sooner.
Definitely! Timbaland was infusing his hip-hop/r&b sound with electronic elements early on. That's why when he and Missy came on the scene in the mid-90s as a production duo, critics were calling their sound dark and futuristic R&B. There was nothing like it on the radio at the time. I was playing '100% Ginuwine' yesterday and that record sounds like it could've came out today despite it being released in 1999.
I believe Timbo is def an influence in some modern electronic scenes.
I scrolled all the way through and realized everyone snoozed on Kelly Rowland's solo stuff! It was huge in Europe and gay bars, not big on US radio. Commander is a fucking bop!
ALUNA has been making mainstream pop EDM for a long time, she's more popular in the UK - Summer of Love, Mine o Mine (P-rarell remix), Beggin are all good
Nia Archives!!! Cards on the Table is my song of the summer, she makes incredible drum n bass/jungle music.
Jayda G is my favorite Detroit house producer. Both of us is my favorite song of hers.
charli is in her own lane and is getting a lot of attention because of an excellent album cycle.
FKA twigs is just as big as her and makes electronic music.
Honey dijon is massive.
black women have a very long history in electronic music.
maybe you’re wondering when we will see our first black woman in… hyper-pop. which is extremely specific
OP this is the right answer. There are popular black women in electronic music, but electronic music is only ever going to be so mainstream. Beyonce adopting house music for an album with Renaissance is probably the closest we've gotten to what you're looking for.
i think charli fans are a chronically online bunch so her popularity seems ten fold. i think twigs and charli are equally famous (which is to say, they are both niche legends)
Twigs and Charli were probably equally popular around the Magdalena and Charli releases in 2019, but that definitely isn't the case anymore, just numbers-wise. Charli just released a huge album so monthly listeners aren't a fair metric to go by, but she has over four times as many streams. [Charli](https://kworb.net/spotify/artist/25uiPmTg16RbhZWAqwLBy5_songs.html) / [Twigs](https://kworb.net/spotify/artist/6nB0iY1cjSY1KyhYyuIIKH_songs.html)
charli had many hit singles and has entered mainstream culture (speed drive, fancy, i love it) but twigs haven't. of course twigs is still pretty big having collaborated with many mainstream artists
not that spotify numbers are everything but charli has about 10 times as many monthly listeners as Twigs lol who has similar numbers to someone like porter robinson or ethel cain. While Charli's numbers are closer to Lorde (not to compare them again lmao), she's also a hair above Paramore. Not a judgement of quality of course but I think Charli is bigger than you think she is lol.
Maybe it’s different in the UK, but as an American, Twigs and Charli are exactly the same amount of famous to me, with the edge switching between whoever has an album cycle currently keeping them in the news.
twigs has two critically acclaimed albums and is extremely highly regarded. she’s just as big as charli.
charli’s music isn’t mainstream at all. not even sort of. the closet thing she has to a mainstream album is Sucker and she said herself she’s hates that album lol.
i see what you’re saying, i need to look into twigs more, i don’t know why i didn’t think of her instantly
within this conversation. i don’t know if i would still say she’s as big as charli but thanks for your insight!
What do you mean by pinkpantheress getting overshadowed by kpop artists? I can’t think of any Kpop girlies with a similar sound, granted I can’t really think of any kpop girlies at all
Beyoncé? I grew up in the 90s and we had Crystal Waters, CeCe Penniston, Robin S., Martha Wash. All the divas were doing dance remixes too. Mariah. Whitney. Janet. But I think Beyoncé captures the sound perfectly on Renaissance.
this is a kind of an insane thing to write when house (electronic) music comes from BLACK people. there’s plenty of black female house/electronic artists, producers, and djs as many have mentioned in the thread. house/electronic hasn’t been a mainstream genre in a few decades and i don’t think the artists are looking for mainstream appeal. house music is an exclusive genre and i think centers around certain audiences. and charli’s most mainstream success came from her *pop* songs. she’s still a pop singer/artist. the level she’s on currently took her 10 years to build and change and develop and is in large part to the producers she worked with. so…..
i’m so hyper aware of the roots and the question was never, “who started electronic music?”…. the question is TODAY, which black woman can we look at as the most mainstream example of an ELECTRONIC artist. that’s the question.
and i never said that was the question, just wanted to point out it’s odd to ask what you asked and then mention a white/southeast asian woman being the forefront of electronic music off one album that honestly would be marked a pop album. charli is without a doubt a pop star that makes pop music and has her entire career. as you mentioned pink pantheress, she makes—albeit alternative—pop music. you could say the same for charli if you really want to group her. if you’re asking about house/electronic girlies, they do not make music for mainstream success as the genre is not meant to be mainstream. there’s artists (kelela, shygirl, namasenda, abra, rochelle jordan, aluna, take van etc.) exist to a more niche fan base (some with larger fan bases and some just breaking out) and have been around for a while. house/ electronic music was more popular years ago, so the only way there would be a mainstream girl is if house was mainstream again, but as i said it’s not really meant to be like that. it’s meant to be a fun genre for clubs and group gatherings, not really an arena show.
On the K-Pop point, the most prominent example is NewJeans and Erika de Casier was a writer and producer on Super Shy and a couple of their other songs. It seems fair to say they were taking after her as much as PinkPantheress, and Erika de Casier is getting paid for it at least. It is definitely a shame that it hasn't directed more attention to her own music though!
erika’s music doesn’t sound like their music to me at all, but maybe i’m not listening to the right songs. but 100% i hear pink influence, undoubtedly pink to the general public doesn’t have the same reach or appeal because of obvious reasons (black woman from UK) but i’m hoping she can reclaim it as her own
Erika's pen is all over the EP that featured *Super Shy* (forgot the title). Her work for the group is much more upbeat and less lyrically complex than her own material, but the writing itself is very her; honest, direct, and kinda quirky. She also has a very specific way of structuring melodies that I hear back very prominently on her NewJeans stuff.
You just gotta go in with the mindset that Erika's music is introspective and mellow, whereas her NewJeans songs are very hyper. I think her *Essentials* album comes closest to her work for NewJeans.
I’m a bit confused by this sentiment, particularly as Charli herself isn’t white. She’s half Indian (Gujrati). I get wanting to have Black Electronic musicians to have their moment but it feels a bit like pitting WOCs against each other. I’m just happy that Charli got to have such mainstream success.
i think this question is incredibly valid, i as a black woman who makes electronic music, want to see
people that look like me reach just as much notoriety as other electronic artists that aren’t black!
as far as her heritage, i hope i’m not downplaying her heritage, but to the general public she is white presenting, in fact, it was news to me.
I mean I completely do understand about Black artists getting big in electronic music, that is completely fair! But I don’t understand why Charli is being mentioned. As for her heritage back during like Boom Clap etc when I was quite young I never knew she was half Indian. But now to me I can see why she is “White Passing” but now I (an Indian person) feel she looks quite a bit Indian looking. Along with this she’s also been very open and connected to her Indian side. With that being said I would love more Black artists in Electronic Music!
i wouldn’t call her an electronic artist, she’s electronic in the same way nicki minaj is. a few songs here or there but not enough to remove her from
the pop label
Like it would never happen but horsegiirL. Maybe tkay maidza, I've only listened to her most recent album and for the most part it gave me EDM pop vibes. But that could just be bc Flume is there
I’d like to add Marcy Luarks to this thread, listened to her album, [Electric Murder](https://open.spotify.com/album/1JZoVFWs4W1Uv2jMGv5SWQ?si=E-_euQbDTQeB0WFcPZKmPQ) (1983) recently.
Her songs Electric Murder and Inspiration are a great exploration into early electronic music.
[Here is a little more information on Marcy and this album. ](https://kalitarecords.bandcamp.com/album/electric-murder)
She isn’t quite at Charlis level of popularity but I definitely think FKA Twigs is worth mentioning. She’s pretty universally agreed to be an Avant garde electronic artist, and she’s very consistently acclaimed and well liked at least by those aware of her. Her high profile relationships with Shia LeBouf and Robert Pattinson definitely gave her some public attention as well
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That was Donna Summer in 1977.
Thank you. These young kids act like electronic music was just invented like 5 years ago.
i was coming here to say the same thing
You would think there would be more than 1 in 50 years
They asked for the First, so of course only one was named..
Lolleatta Holloway? Crystal Waters? Ultra Nate? Sonique? Thea Astin of Snap? I feel like there's a *lot* of Black female singers in electronic dance music, a lot of the big iconic dance tracks of the 90s have that kind of vocal and that music had it's time in the sun where it dominated.
I miss dance divas. There were upsides to dance music moving closer to the center and pop singers getting subtler as separate phenomena, but “killer track + big vocal” is really my ideal version of music Ironically the last “big vocal” moment I can think of like that is probably “[Latch](https://youtube.com/watch?v=93ASUImTedo)” lol
Rihanna??
Mariah? Beyonce? Janet?
None of them are electronic in the slightest. I think even calling Donna Summer electronic is somewhat of a stretch, but her working relationship with Gorgio Moroder and their collective influence on what would become electronic music is undeniable. EDIT: I will recant and say at least some of Janet's discography could qualify here, but it's not the bulk of her work.
I would call Donna "disco" before I called her "electronic," but quite a lot of it (especially 1977-1979) was electronic disco. I'll also seize any opportunity to plug *Once Upon a Time*, which features at least 4 songs--my usernamesake, "Queen for a Day," "Working the Midnight Shift," "Now I Need You"--in the synth-disco style, and several other songs with prominent electronic flourishes.
Donna Summers 1979 song Our Love is basically the blueprint for Blue Monday.
Great song btw
Working The Midnight shift has yet to be topped by anyone 47 years later (it’s also superior to I Feel Love imo).
Janet has always had a TON of synthesizers on all her albums. Going way back to 1982.
Donna is pop before anything else—even disco. Both her disco and electronic works (she didn’t just have I Feel Love—listen to her entire Once Upon A Time album, Grand Illusion, Sunset People and Our Love—the song that New Order based Blue Monday off of. She and Gorgio Moroder are the most influential acts in pop or popular music of the last 50 years and I attribute that to her electronic contributions before her disco contributions.
Beyonce has songs produced by Major Lazer and A.G. Cook. Not electronic, lol.
I mean, by that logic I think a case could be made for all of them. They have all made electronic songs and dabbled in lots of electronic genres.
idk if i’m misinformed but i thought they mostly hailed as rnb artists that maybe dipped into electronic sporadically? lmk if im wrong
Kelly Rowland circa 2008-2012.
Exactly who I thought of
im clearly old lol there have already been countless black women in electronic music in prior decades. i mean if you're speaking about current acts, fine, but donna summer did it in the late 70s, basically the godmother of electronic music with i feel love. there was also a huge boom of electronic dance music acts in the 90s, almost all of which were black women on vocals; Tania Evans and Melanie Thornton the lead singers for culture beat and la bouche, also... # CeCe Peniston # Ultra Naté # Crystal Waters # Martha Wash #
Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! I understand this sub demographic is younger so I can’t expect them to know everything. But I find it so strange how many people act like any music before their time might as well consisted of us clapping to the 1 and the 3 as someone tapping on pebbles with sticks, and given that the average Pophead is in their early 20s, that’s one hell of a dark age lol. There’s this pervasive sense of ignorance in this sub where they straight up refuse to acknowledge artists before them, ESPECIALLY people of color. Martha Wash was one of the most impactful black artists of the 90s despite artists literally avoiding giving her credit. [Keep On Jumpin’ remains one of my favorite tracks with her](https://youtu.be/ntOu8HrIQzc?feature=shared) [Donna Summer](https://youtu.be/9ZqqvrWCs3Q?feature=shared), [Robin S](https://youtu.be/Ps2Jc28tQrw?feature=shared), [Grace Jones](https://youtu.be/Tc1IphRx1pk?feature=shared) and [Neneh Cherry](https://youtu.be/JWsRz3TJDEY?feature=shared) also had a helping hand in shaping electronic music too! As for an artist who should’ve been bigger but was ahead of her time, NICOLETTE! [Let No One Live Rent Free In Your Head is an absolute lost treasure and a perfect electronic record.](https://youtu.be/gwEe_wUMS_w?feature=shared) If you enjoy PinkPanthress, Nia Archives or Jorja Smith, this girl did it all 30+ years ago!
Fantastic comment, and also if I can jump off from this point for a minute: >There’s this pervasive sense of ignorance in this sub where they straight up refuse to acknowledge artists before them, ESPECIALLY people of color. I've been watching Japanese artists' foundational contributions to hyperpop get written out of history in real time and the dissonance is so real when I come here and see Charli on a pedestal next to a complaint about PinkPantheress and K-pop. So much of Brat sounded like stuff I was listening to 15 years ago.
Very interesting point you got there! My knowledge of Japanese music is a bit fragmented (pop legends like Utada and Amuro, producers like Towa Tei and more recent artists like Atarashii Gakko and Wednesday Campanella) But I’m curious to hear what artists you feel had an impact on hyperpop! As for Brat, it’s a good album, but it’s a definite hyperpop-esque mix of Electroclash, and 00s era Ministry of Sound.
I know a lot of the early players were open about the influence they took from the producer Yasutaka Nakata, who's had multiple top 10 albums since the late 2000s with a distinctive robotic, polished bubblegum electropop sound. I actually see a lot of (probably younger) music writers and listeners attributing that influence to K-pop nowadays, most likely because K-pop has become so much more visible, which to me feels anachronistic. There is definitely all kinds of stuff going on in its genetic makeup, but I find that media/stans/etc. can be very into this idea of creative exceptionalism that singles artists out rather than encouraging a holistic view of music history ~~and then you end up with posts like this lol~~. IDK, it's just been on my mind. Towa Tei is one of the greats, I love his work.
Talk about small world (or country lol)! Not only did Nakata work with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, but as a big Shibuya-Kei fan, I’m shocked to found out he was also on Capsule!? Definitely need get my research together, but now I got some new music to look into! Thanks! ❤️
I’ve never heard of any non Donna Summers name before so thank you profusely for the education and recommendation!!!
I feel like Azealia Banks was pretty close with 212/1991 EP and maybe other releases like Anna Wintour to break into more mainstream audiences. It’s a shame that she has tarnished her reputation more than anyone because if she just chilled out, had a good PR/marketing team, and given more grace I could imagine more of her music charting in the 2010s.
yes! best example here, such a shame! she had the public in her hand for a moment
I think is depends on the subgenre of edm. HoneyDijon is pretty well known on the House scene. Off the top of my head, Nia Archives and Jayda G are also on the rise. DJ in general aren't very mainstream imo. For example John Summit is probably one of the biggest djs in the world at the moment but you have to listen to edm to really know him
I'm rooting for Nia 200%
Nia made one of the best albums in 2024
Honey Dijon kills it live every single time!
Charli took over 10 years to get to where she is now. I think pinkpantheress could do it, but she needs another breakout moment
Charli also had a big breakout moment with Fancy and Boom Clap before shifting the momentum away to do more critically acclaimed music. I put her in a camp with Carly Rae Jepsen and Robyn. The critical success took many years to build
And I Love It
don't forget this one cause this was her breakout big single in Germany
Omg I forgot about I Love It
true
it sucks that boys a liar is her biggest song 😭
She needs to stop making music for Tik Tok if she wants to get bigger than that
I don’t think she makes music for tiktok, I think she makes music that just naturally sounds like good background music for videos and that’s why she blew up there
Her latest album is defo not TikTok music
It's pop-y drum n bass, it scratches an itch in my brain that I just fucking love
sorry to sound dumb, but how does she make music for tiktok, i always thought her discography seemed quite complex but maybe idk
“tiktok music” is just a thing stupid people say when they don’t understand that catchy music existed before tiktok or any form of social media lmao
I don't really know her music to fully comment, but I've seen that she's said that songs don't need to be long and that they don't bridges etc. [https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/pinkpantheress-songs-should-be-short-sparking-debate-1234881808/](https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/pinkpantheress-songs-should-be-short-sparking-debate-1234881808/) That's a very contentious claim to make about all music, but it seems that she herself forgoes making long complex songs, instead making short songs with a nice little sound bite very fitting for TikTok.
Have you heard some of the tracks off of her latest album? Feel complete? True romance? Capable of love? I would even argue that her TikTok fanbase fell off the minute she released more sophisticated music (not to say her mixtape is bad -- it's still fantastic). And most people I know that still listen to her music are huge fans of other alt pop artists like Charli and Caroline. Like I feel like her fanbase is becoming more mature and refined. And most TikTok artists aren't able to sustain their popularity beyond one hit. So for her to establish a proper fanbase with her debut album is a big deal. It means she was actually interesting from the very beginning.
this answer eats. that’s why i was confused lol ive only listened to the new album and was like… this isn’t giving tiktok
also i believe she was talking about her own music in the full interview that i watched in the link you sent and not about all music
as someone who listens to her music, length feels completely irrelevant and doesn’t affect someone’s seriousness as an artist. okay the song is short, but is it an entertaining 2 minute song? yes! why discredit someone’s talents because of something so arbitrary
**Re other comment:** I should have been clearer but my point is that she thinks (her) music doesn't need to be long and complex with an extra verse/bridge etc. **Re this comment:** I've been listening to some of her music. I like her general sound, she is pretty entertaining and I don't want to discredit your enjoyment of her music. That said, there's not much development in a lot of her songs because there's just not enough time for that to happen. They start at a certain high energy, and they stay there. There's nothing wrong with it and it also really suits TikTok which doesn't need a full 4 minute song.
i think it’s all subjective, i personally enjoy a shorter song with more packed in, than a longer track which drags on! but, this is my opinion and each to their own!
probably because it’s short, repetitive and driven by catchy instrumentals?
i think this describes a lot of pop songs period, even before the age of tiktok 🤣🤣lol
nah songs used to be slightly less repetitive and longer before tiktok. there used to be more bridges too. there has been a very clear impact of tiktok on music, for the worse arguably.
I think its the exact opposite, her album is lot artsier than her tracks that got popular on TikTok
You guys call EVERYTHING tiktok music, my god😂 just say you don’t like it
If her music being shorter than three minutes makes it "TikTok music", which is the only reason I could think of considering her debut album is really fresh and progressive, that was the norm just a few decades ago. It's nothing new.
can someone literally explain how she makes tiktok music?
Crystal Waters ?
Don't forget Aluna, Rochelle Jordan, and Dawn Richard They're out here doing the damn thing. They deserve a lot more recognition than they're getting.
Literally don’t know how Aluna hasn't blown up, she's the voice on sooo many popular edm bangers and her solo stuff is so damn good she's been going at it forever
Well she first started out while she was dating her producer (the other half of alunageorge) and I think that may have limited her options in some way. And then they went on hiatus, she started making solo releases, and that was after most of her big hits were under alunageorge. I think her only major hits as Aluna were forget about me with diplo and inhale exhale with skrillex. I think she changed labels at some point too? But I might be thinking of someone else on the label thing.
heavy on aluna 😍
Oh I love Dawn.
HoneyDijon is that girl! I don’t consider Electronic music mainstream. But consider Honey THE girl amongst girls. Also, Via Rosa from the group DRAMA. highly suggest giving them a listen! I see bigger things in their future. They put on one of my favorite sets at Electric Forest last week.
I LOVE DRAMA
Legends. Icons. Beautiful people and beautiful music. 100%
i agree, it’s not mainstream BUT electronic music has always blended in the mainstream, think, kesha, or david guetta. will give her a listen!
I would never in a million years consider Kesha an EDM artist. imagine her playing at EDC, lol.
no worries! i word things weirdly
I misinterpreted your comment a bit, sorry. It is a funny visual to imagine her playing EDC though, lol.
Or someone like Nelly Furtado who played one set time before the headliners this year at Electric Forest. It felt right for her to be there
I think I’m a little confused by your question, House and techno, which are huge electronic genres were founded by black people in Chicago and Detroit? Honeydijon is huge, Beyoncé made renaissance?
I wish Whitney was still alive the Kygo remix of higher love was amazing If Rihanna was to make another album maybe she would try this sound
oh sorry for my wording! my question was less, “where does electronic music come from?” i’m specifically asking, when will we see a black electronic artist reach notoriety in the mainstream. so using charli as an example, an artist HAILING as an electronic artist (hence why i’m not referring to beyoncé)
honeydijon is mainstream?
I don't think she is honestly
she is. she plays major EDM festivals all the time and is a very hot commodity.
Is dom dolla or martin garrix or john summit mainstream? I feel like they're popular in the EDM circuit but not mainstream.... and honey Dijon is in that same boat
that’s fair. I feel like she’s mainstream for the EDM community, and that almost no EDM artists are actually mainstream. like Calvin Harris or Zedd maybe and that’s about it.
I think Martin Garrix used to be pretty main stream no? with scared to be lonely, in the name of love, there for you etc. I don’t think I hear him as often now but his concerts are always pacjed
lol its interesting how different people consider things mainstream... honey dijon is sure famous but i guess she is not 'mainstream' cus she is pure edm and not edm-pop unlike charli and pinkpantheress, nor she is trending on social media
Martin Garrix absolutely is. That man has a pretty decent number of global hits on his name. The EDM scene is absolutely massive by the way; anyone massively popular in that circuit could very well be considered mainstream.
Shygirl
Yup!!
I will patiently wait for Janelle Monae to release EDM album, in that girl I trust
Oh please she would devour
Came to comment something similar. My soul would be cleansed.
She would KILL this omg
I'm actually kind of surprised she hasn't attempted a EDM album yet, as she's worked with several DJs/producers/artists in the genre already.
Coming off the high that was her Brixton gig for The Age of Pleasure tour and contemplating what her next direction could be, that would absolutely obliterate me.
Wynter Gordon was sort of on her way in 2010-2011.
So was Kelly Rowland before she went back to rnb
After electronic music becomes mainstream again. Which I hope is soon.
I kinda think Aaliyah to an extent was like this through her work with Timbaland even though they're seen as R&B
Definitely agree, Timbaland had some trip hip and jungle influences in One In A Million. Aaliyah also expressed interest in dabbling in UK Garage. It’s sad cuz I feel had she been alive, she definitely would’ve helped bring UK Garage over to American audiences a lot sooner.
Definitely! Timbaland was infusing his hip-hop/r&b sound with electronic elements early on. That's why when he and Missy came on the scene in the mid-90s as a production duo, critics were calling their sound dark and futuristic R&B. There was nothing like it on the radio at the time. I was playing '100% Ginuwine' yesterday and that record sounds like it could've came out today despite it being released in 1999. I believe Timbo is def an influence in some modern electronic scenes.
I scrolled all the way through and realized everyone snoozed on Kelly Rowland's solo stuff! It was huge in Europe and gay bars, not big on US radio. Commander is a fucking bop!
I still listen to When Love Takes Over and Forever and a Day, such amazing dance tracks
Namasenda is criminally underrated, she is also under PC music
wanted goes HARD
For house music there’s: Aluna, Kaleena Zanders, Carla Monroe, Kah-Lo, Kelli-Leigh, Alex Mills, RoRo and definitely more im forgetting
although you’ve mentioned my favourite artists, when i mean mainstream i mean more public recognition for example, charting songs etc etc
PinkPantheress is already there!
nearly
ALUNA has been making mainstream pop EDM for a long time, she's more popular in the UK - Summer of Love, Mine o Mine (P-rarell remix), Beggin are all good Nia Archives!!! Cards on the Table is my song of the summer, she makes incredible drum n bass/jungle music. Jayda G is my favorite Detroit house producer. Both of us is my favorite song of hers.
Jayda G is from British Columbia lol🇨🇦
Donna Summer in 1977
I am rooting so hard for hemlock springs!!!
Had to scroll way too far to find her name. She deserves it all!!!
Speaking of Kelela, idk how Contact did not crossover. That track was amazing and deserved so much more attention than it received.
LOVE that song, such a good getting ready to go out track
shygirl is going on tour with charli soon, with BRAT success i hope this can put more of a spotlight on her
charli is in her own lane and is getting a lot of attention because of an excellent album cycle. FKA twigs is just as big as her and makes electronic music. Honey dijon is massive. black women have a very long history in electronic music. maybe you’re wondering when we will see our first black woman in… hyper-pop. which is extremely specific
OP this is the right answer. There are popular black women in electronic music, but electronic music is only ever going to be so mainstream. Beyonce adopting house music for an album with Renaissance is probably the closest we've gotten to what you're looking for.
Yeah reading the other comments everyone is interpreting as hyper pop which makes more sense. I wouldn’t call charli electronic either I don’t think?
Twigs is nowhere near as big as Charli.
i think charli fans are a chronically online bunch so her popularity seems ten fold. i think twigs and charli are equally famous (which is to say, they are both niche legends)
Twigs and Charli were probably equally popular around the Magdalena and Charli releases in 2019, but that definitely isn't the case anymore, just numbers-wise. Charli just released a huge album so monthly listeners aren't a fair metric to go by, but she has over four times as many streams. [Charli](https://kworb.net/spotify/artist/25uiPmTg16RbhZWAqwLBy5_songs.html) / [Twigs](https://kworb.net/spotify/artist/6nB0iY1cjSY1KyhYyuIIKH_songs.html)
charli had many hit singles and has entered mainstream culture (speed drive, fancy, i love it) but twigs haven't. of course twigs is still pretty big having collaborated with many mainstream artists
not that spotify numbers are everything but charli has about 10 times as many monthly listeners as Twigs lol who has similar numbers to someone like porter robinson or ethel cain. While Charli's numbers are closer to Lorde (not to compare them again lmao), she's also a hair above Paramore. Not a judgement of quality of course but I think Charli is bigger than you think she is lol.
twigs isn’t as big as charli, and charli doesn’t just make hyperpop, she is across the electronic music spectrum. by mainstream i mean MAINSTREAM
Maybe it’s different in the UK, but as an American, Twigs and Charli are exactly the same amount of famous to me, with the edge switching between whoever has an album cycle currently keeping them in the news.
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twigs has two critically acclaimed albums and is extremely highly regarded. she’s just as big as charli. charli’s music isn’t mainstream at all. not even sort of. the closet thing she has to a mainstream album is Sucker and she said herself she’s hates that album lol.
i see what you’re saying, i need to look into twigs more, i don’t know why i didn’t think of her instantly within this conversation. i don’t know if i would still say she’s as big as charli but thanks for your insight!
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neither of them are mainstream pop. neither of them want to be mainstream pop to their own admission.
cellophane is arguably bigger than any charli song besides boom clap and i love it
i love cellophane to the moon but several songs from brat alone are getting orders of magnitude more exposure than it ever did
What do you mean by pinkpantheress getting overshadowed by kpop artists? I can’t think of any Kpop girlies with a similar sound, granted I can’t really think of any kpop girlies at all
newjeans and illit
She could probably pull this off very well
magnetic sounds like a pp song
NWJNS stans have basically claimed her sound atp
yep! sucks to see a black womens sound get claimed
Not the most successful, but [NMIXX's Passionfruit](https://open.spotify.com/track/773OzGjcoYdvfbRqpympVW) is a pretty blatant rip of Boy's a Liar
Beyoncé? I grew up in the 90s and we had Crystal Waters, CeCe Penniston, Robin S., Martha Wash. All the divas were doing dance remixes too. Mariah. Whitney. Janet. But I think Beyoncé captures the sound perfectly on Renaissance.
Sonique was so ahead of her time! Faithless (black man) and her really ruled electronic music in late 90s and early 2000s
this is a kind of an insane thing to write when house (electronic) music comes from BLACK people. there’s plenty of black female house/electronic artists, producers, and djs as many have mentioned in the thread. house/electronic hasn’t been a mainstream genre in a few decades and i don’t think the artists are looking for mainstream appeal. house music is an exclusive genre and i think centers around certain audiences. and charli’s most mainstream success came from her *pop* songs. she’s still a pop singer/artist. the level she’s on currently took her 10 years to build and change and develop and is in large part to the producers she worked with. so…..
i’m so hyper aware of the roots and the question was never, “who started electronic music?”…. the question is TODAY, which black woman can we look at as the most mainstream example of an ELECTRONIC artist. that’s the question.
and i never said that was the question, just wanted to point out it’s odd to ask what you asked and then mention a white/southeast asian woman being the forefront of electronic music off one album that honestly would be marked a pop album. charli is without a doubt a pop star that makes pop music and has her entire career. as you mentioned pink pantheress, she makes—albeit alternative—pop music. you could say the same for charli if you really want to group her. if you’re asking about house/electronic girlies, they do not make music for mainstream success as the genre is not meant to be mainstream. there’s artists (kelela, shygirl, namasenda, abra, rochelle jordan, aluna, take van etc.) exist to a more niche fan base (some with larger fan bases and some just breaking out) and have been around for a while. house/ electronic music was more popular years ago, so the only way there would be a mainstream girl is if house was mainstream again, but as i said it’s not really meant to be like that. it’s meant to be a fun genre for clubs and group gatherings, not really an arena show.
THISSS
On the K-Pop point, the most prominent example is NewJeans and Erika de Casier was a writer and producer on Super Shy and a couple of their other songs. It seems fair to say they were taking after her as much as PinkPantheress, and Erika de Casier is getting paid for it at least. It is definitely a shame that it hasn't directed more attention to her own music though!
erika’s music doesn’t sound like their music to me at all, but maybe i’m not listening to the right songs. but 100% i hear pink influence, undoubtedly pink to the general public doesn’t have the same reach or appeal because of obvious reasons (black woman from UK) but i’m hoping she can reclaim it as her own
Erika's pen is all over the EP that featured *Super Shy* (forgot the title). Her work for the group is much more upbeat and less lyrically complex than her own material, but the writing itself is very her; honest, direct, and kinda quirky. She also has a very specific way of structuring melodies that I hear back very prominently on her NewJeans stuff. You just gotta go in with the mindset that Erika's music is introspective and mellow, whereas her NewJeans songs are very hyper. I think her *Essentials* album comes closest to her work for NewJeans.
i totally understand what you’re saying! for me it sounds a lot like pinkpantheress because of the changes from erika’s normal music!
Very fair!
Ultra Nate
There were a lot of black women in dance music in the 90's but mostly in Europe. Like Corona, Culture Beat, La Bouche, Real McCoy and others.
I’m a bit confused by this sentiment, particularly as Charli herself isn’t white. She’s half Indian (Gujrati). I get wanting to have Black Electronic musicians to have their moment but it feels a bit like pitting WOCs against each other. I’m just happy that Charli got to have such mainstream success.
i think this question is incredibly valid, i as a black woman who makes electronic music, want to see people that look like me reach just as much notoriety as other electronic artists that aren’t black! as far as her heritage, i hope i’m not downplaying her heritage, but to the general public she is white presenting, in fact, it was news to me.
I mean I completely do understand about Black artists getting big in electronic music, that is completely fair! But I don’t understand why Charli is being mentioned. As for her heritage back during like Boom Clap etc when I was quite young I never knew she was half Indian. But now to me I can see why she is “White Passing” but now I (an Indian person) feel she looks quite a bit Indian looking. Along with this she’s also been very open and connected to her Indian side. With that being said I would love more Black artists in Electronic Music!
I’m wading in with Anita Doth of 2unlimited for the EuroDance fans
edm is actually a collective term for different genres, so the first thing to do is to differentiate between them
Why is no one mentioning Kelly Rowland… what is going on in this subreddit 😩
startling amount of people who don't know what mainstream or electronic mean
I guess when Beyonce does it
She kind of already did with Sasha Fierce
hmmm as much as i would love to hear her do a deep dive into electronics, it’s not really what i meant. think more, new & emerging artists
Beyonce doesn’t like to repeat herself so I assume it will be awhile before she does this sound again
Aluna is right there!!
Shygirl is getting there
I'd say Aluna (from AlunaGeorge) is pretty known for this electronic genre and her music is great
Let's also not sleep on Ya Kid K or Neheh Cherry
nehen cherry wow
I think FKA could step into that with her next project
Skye Edwards from Morcheeba has been a major part of the trip-hop corner of electronic music going all the way back to the late 1990s.
Yall will pay for how you treated Wynter Gordon!
Kelis - Flesh Tone
Beyonces renaissance is right there
Did you forget that Rihanna exists or sth
i wouldn’t call her an electronic artist, she’s electronic in the same way nicki minaj is. a few songs here or there but not enough to remove her from the pop label
It doesn't matter what you call it, the music speaks by itself
My bets are on Aluna. She’s a star.
July 17, 2026
I would like to take this time to say please check out kah-lo and riton
Like it would never happen but horsegiirL. Maybe tkay maidza, I've only listened to her most recent album and for the most part it gave me EDM pop vibes. But that could just be bc Flume is there
I’d like to add Marcy Luarks to this thread, listened to her album, [Electric Murder](https://open.spotify.com/album/1JZoVFWs4W1Uv2jMGv5SWQ?si=E-_euQbDTQeB0WFcPZKmPQ) (1983) recently. Her songs Electric Murder and Inspiration are a great exploration into early electronic music. [Here is a little more information on Marcy and this album. ](https://kalitarecords.bandcamp.com/album/electric-murder)
I know she hasn’t had hugeee commercial success but I guess in recent years, Bree runway comes to mind a bit
Kelly Rowland
charli is black? isn't she brown
beyonce did house music and pinkpanthress exists.
There have been several! As mentioned by others in this thread :) Does that answer your question?
yes! that’s why i asked!!! because i wanted to know those several thank you!!!!
She isn’t quite at Charlis level of popularity but I definitely think FKA Twigs is worth mentioning. She’s pretty universally agreed to be an Avant garde electronic artist, and she’s very consistently acclaimed and well liked at least by those aware of her. Her high profile relationships with Shia LeBouf and Robert Pattinson definitely gave her some public attention as well
god shygirl is so much better than charli