CHICAGO — Kym Mazelle has come a long way since she was a young girl in Gary, Indiana with a bright smile and big city dreams. She moved to Chicago, then attended Columbia College, and became immersed in a new underground disco music scene.
She later became known as “The First Lady of House,” a recognition of her critical role in pioneering the electronic dance music genre in the mid-1980s.
“It was magical,” said Mazelle. “It was a magical time because we were all very young, very hungry. We didn’t know we were actually creating a new genre. We were just young people trying to find a space. We were also the ones that didn’t fit in, we were kind of like the odd ones out.”
They found a community in the underground nightclub scene in Chicago at The Warehouse club, where DJs Marshall Jefferson and Frankie Knuckles would seamlessly loop the drum breaks of disco and soul records, providing endless hours of dance music.
“Everything was very very young,” Mazelle said. “As a matter of fact, I think it wasn’t even called ‘House’ yet. I think it was still called ’jackin,’” she said.
It would become known as House – some say because it was popularized at the warehouse. It’s still played nightclubs around the world – with DJs attracting crowds to spots like SmartBar in Chicago with sets heavy on bass, beats and repetitive vocal tracks.
“House music is a feeling, and I know everybody says that,” Mazelle said. “But it’s definitely a feeling of energy. It’s very spiritual, because it transcends genres. Because most people in early house music grew up on WLS radio, which meant that you got a lot of Rock ‘n’ Roll. They also listened to Herb Kent. So, they got a lot of soul. We got a mixture of everything.”
Before Mazelle graduated from Columbia college in 1986, she started her own record label. It was her final class project. “
The record was played up by underground DJs in New York and London. “It was mind-blowing.”
Concert promoters asked her to go to London and perform. “I was totally ecstatic, and I was like, ‘absolutely. I’m coming. I’m coming over,” she said,
She and a slate of other artists sold out Wembley Arena for a week. Soon, she had a deal with British record label EMI.
She had learned the business side of the music industry at Columbia College. Her savvy helped her build a career as a sort of ambassador of Chicago’s house phenomenon overseas as she became the voice of the house music genre in Europe.
In 1996 director Baz Luhrmann tapped her to record the soundtrack for his film “Romeo and Juliet” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. “We sold 40 million albums of the soundtrack,” she said. “I think my voice was kindred with Candi Staton, the original singer of the song in the ‘70s.”
Over three decades, she’s worked with a number of entertainment’s biggest names like Mick Jagger, Simon Cowell, and rubbed shoulders with Pharell Williams, Ertha Kitt, Angela Bassett, and Sameul L. Jackson. Buts he’s never forgotten how Chicago influenced her: “Boy they say, New York, If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Ahh – Chicago, boy,” she said. “Chicago is a place I would say for grafting and honing your craft.”
