DJ Baby Anne, also known as the Queen of Bass was and is the FIRST female DJ ever to get up on stage and spin. She had to prove that woman CAN spin, and as a result, paved the way for all female DJs today. Meeting her was like meeting the Xena, of EDM… It was an honor. Read here to find out what it was like for this pioneer went through and witnessed as EDM has grown.
Why are you the Queen of Bass?
When I first got into the music, I just loved it. I am the Queen of Bass because I love bass so much, not because I do it better than anybody else.
What do you think about women in the EDM scene?I have been DJing since 1991, and it has been a long journey. When I got into it, there weren’t any other of females. In the middle (late 90’s,early 2000’s), there were some. I’ve noticed recently, there aren’t any females coming back around. I don’t know why, It’s kind of odd. I thought it would have grown but, I don’t really see it. I would like to see more females in the industry. I don’t think it matters if you are male or female. If you can do it, then you can do it. So yeah, I would like to see more girls get into it.
What did you have to deal with being a woman in a man’s world?
It was good and bad. People would ask me to play, so I would come play. In the beginning it would be a bunch of guys standing in front of the booth, staring at me just to see if I could do it… That made it really uncomfortable. When you DJ, you want people dancing. You want them to have fun. I went from the dance floor to the DJ booth, and I wanted people to have fun like I did. That’s how I got into it. So to see people not dancing is awkward. But I pulled it off. Now people are always dancing crazy and I love it.
“The thing I get asked the most often is,”what advice would you give to a person trying to be a DJ?” I’ve always said the same thing… Do it because you love it. Not because you want to be the person who is the center of attention up on the stage. A lot of people do that and it just is never going to work out. Its got to come from the heart.”
DJ Icey was your mentor, right?
Yes, he was, but probably not for the way people think. He was a mentor in the aspect that he was very good at what he does. He’s very inspirational because it just flows out of him. He is always ahead of the game, always a pioneer.
How is it for you today?
Today’s different for me because I don’t care what people think of me, I do it because I like it. When I started, we weren’t on the stage. We were in a booth playing music and then it grew. I hated being in front of people but, I was well received. So I turned it into a career. I think anybody who gets into DJing should do it because they like it and for no other reason. I love it and I wouldn’t do anything else.