Sho!Mag: Why ‘House Music’ out of all the music genres out there? What is it with House Music that made you want to be part of that musical genre?
Jackie Queens: ‘I love to dance!’ It’s about the only style of music I can dance to in my own awkward way and feel comfortable about it. Like, there’s no pressure to know any latest moves haha! Beyond that, next to music of the soulful variety, I feel at home with it. I can express who I am fully through it, say how I feel and describe the world, even the ugly bits.
Sho!Mag: Let’s talk about ‘Women Of House’. How did that release come about and who makes up ‘Women Of House’.
Jackie Queens: So #womenofhouse is a project I started to magnify the contribution of women to house music. Often we’re excluded from the narrative in a variety of ways. For those of us whose careers are built on features, the word “feature” often renders you invisible. In artwork, many times financially, and canonically. It started out as a series of interviews then I decided to extend it. The EP is a small but integral part of the larger work. I contacted Iklwa Brothers Music to collaborate with them as the stable has most of my favourite Afro house producers. I collected tracks from them and contacted vocalists I thought would be a great fit for each track. So it brings together people I admire: Iklwa Brothers Music producers and the label itself, which consistently releases amazing music and of course the inimitable talents of Sio and Zipho whom I adore to no end. I wanted the project to show that it’s possible to have more than one “queen” of something. Often in the music industry, women are pitted against each other and there’ll be one queen of a camp for example or of a particular genre. In reality the pie is huge with enough slices for everybody. We are unique and talented in our own ways so this project is a celebration of that too.
Sho!Mag: Why the title ‘Women Of House’, we ask this because the title is a catchy one.
Jackie Queens: It’s named after my #womenofhouse project which I’m hoping to grow into something more substantial. Everything connected to the project will have that title.
Sho!Mag: How would you describe the sound you guys put together behind ‘Women Of House’ and what was the inspiration behind that?
Jackie Queens: There wasn’t really much thought behind that, it was organic. The sound was dependent on the producers whom I only expected to do what they do best. That was easy enough I guess.
