Saucy Lady on Eradicating Racial Divides Through the Power of Disco

Noe Carmichael, who is better known as the illustrious DJ Saucy Lady, possesses an array of traits that makes her quite the memorable musician. She is taut, she is blazing, she is assured. Her debut album Diversify is soulful yet ambivalently sexy; it is dressed in disco strings from top to bottom yet somehow remains emotionally explicit where it counts. Carmichael also loves sewing the seeds of reinvention. Not only is she a singer/songwriter, but she has recently amassed the role of producer and even started her own label through Audio Chemists. Saucy has traveled the world and collaborated with countless artists in order to cultivate a better sound. She briefly describes to Performer the power of music and how her favorite genre worked to eradicate racial divides and inevitably unite us all:

“Throughout my travels and being of mixed heritage–I’m Japanese and American–I’ve seen funk and disco being loved and embraced around the globe.  It defies racial and cultural boundaries, which is one of the things I love about it.  It’s about being one nation under a groove – and that’s how all music should be. Genres should not cater to only certain types of people and our musical predecessors have often tried to help achieve that.  Rick James created a whole new crossover genre of punk-funk that catered to not only black folks but to white people and beyond. Disco has had such a heavy influence worldwide since the ’60s and ’70s and became popularized in Japan by artists such as Tatsuro Yamashita, Yoshida Minako, Yasuko Agawa, and Kimiko Kasai to name a few. When disco proliferated in gay clubs it helped to destigmatize traditional gender roles. I’m excited to be a part of what we call the “Modern Funk” movement now and our current generation has its own take on the genre. We offer a new creative twist.”

-As told to Candace McDuffie