Valerie Olukemi A "Kemi" Olusanya (13 October 1963 – 25 April 1999), commonly known by her stage name Kemistry, was a leading English drum and bass DJ of the early 1990s, half of duo Kemistry & Storm, and co-founder of the

Metalheadz Metalheadz is a drum and bass record label based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1994 by Kemistry & Storm and Goldie. History Origins Goldie's early experiences of the rave scene, especially the club ''Rage'' had a profound effect on ...

record label.

Career

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, Olusanya grew up in

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, and began a career as a make-up artist before giving it up for DJing in the early 1990s. She was half of the DJ and

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

duo Kemistry & Storm, which she formed with an old friend when they both lived in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. They both started out playing on pirate radio stations Touchdown and Defection FM. With

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...

, they formed the

record label. After two and a half years at the label, they moved on to concentrate on DJing and also released a widely distributed mix

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, '' DJ-Kicks: Kemistry & Storm'', which has been described as "paving the way for other, younger, female DJs".

Death

At 2:30 am on 25 April 1999, Olusanya was a front-seat passenger in a car travelling on the M3 motorway in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, behind a van which dislodged a cat's eye in the road. The metal body flew through the windscreen hitting Olusanya in the face. She was killed instantly. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death. The track "Kemistry" by Goldie, originally released in 1992 when they were in a relationship together, and also featured on his 1995 album '' Timeless'', is dedicated to her.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1963 births 1999 deaths Club DJs English electronic musicians English drum and bass musicians English record producers English women DJs Black British DJs DJs from Birmingham Road incident deaths in England 20th-century English musicians British women record producers English women in electronic music English people of Nigerian descent 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Electronic dance music DJs

Career

Death

See also

References

External links