Jackie Queens is a Zimbabwean-born singer and songwriter. Her music is a combination of House containing elements from deep house and Soulful house. She’s also the founder of Bae Electronica, a record label she launched to release her own music and also showcase other black women house musicians.

Early life and career

Jackie Queens was born in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. She has spent 12 years in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

where she developed her love for writing and performing. In 2015, she released her single "Conqueror". The single caught the attention of the South African DJ, Black Coffee and became a prominent fixture on the DJ’s sets across the world. Explaining her single:

Certainly the thought to make Conqueror official was not something I had in mind. At that time I was deeply questioning my path in music. Before anything else music, for me, is about community. You don’t make music or become who you are on your own. In the grand scheme of things it’s a belief system, it’s spiritual, and a channel for empowerment. Indeed Conqueror itself, and the trajectory of Enoo Napa’s Opaque Mix signifies all of those things for me.

On 19 September 2017, she released a three-track EP titled ''Women of House'' which featured vocalists Sió and Zipho, and formed part of her larger project of amplifying the voices of women in house music. In 2018, she released her single "Feel It" produced by South African music producer Cornelius SA, which was nominated in the 2018 Dance Music Awards South Africa for Best House Record of the Year and Best EDM Record of the Year. She was also nominated for Best female vocalist of the Year at the 2018 Dance Music Awards South Africa and her single "Mwanangu" was nominated at the

24th South African Music Awards The 24th Annual South African Music Awards was held at Sun City, in the North West on June 2, 2018. The list of nominees was announced on April 19, 2018 at Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni. Mafikizolo, Mi Casa and Shekhinah each received a node of ...

. In April 2020, she was set to perform at the Boiler room in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

but the event was cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. In September 2020, she collaborated with South African producer Miz Dee on the EP ''Back To Us''. The EP was released to highlight a message against the violence of women, ongoing

femicide Femicide or feminicide is a hate crime which is broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female," but definitions of it vary depending on cultural context. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russ ...

, and the global #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in

where she provides platforms for artists who are unseen, and in doing so, fulfils a crucial role in the education of the South African dance music scene. She has been recognised by Resident Advisor on their 2021 Re-record list celebrating 120 Black artists in the past decade. She has been featured on

Kaya FM Kaya FM 95.9 is a commercial radio station that broadcasts from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. History Kaya FM was launched in August 1997, and was one of the first frequencies to be approved for private commercial radio in South Africa. ...

's Platinum Friday with T-Bose and has also performed in music festivals and venues such as the Red Bull Beyond The Sound on

Red Bull TV Red Bull TV is a global multi-platform channel owned by Red Bull GmbH, distributed digitally on connected TVs, smartphones, tablets, and on its website. The channel is available globally. Programming is in English (with optional subtitles and clos ...

and Oppikoppi.

Awards and nominations

Discography

*''Women of House'' (2017) *''Back To Us EP'' (2020)

References

External links

*
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21st-century Zimbabwean women singers ] Year of birth missing (living people)