Pittsburgh has a vibrant Black female DJ scene

Mary Dee Dudley was a pioneer of Pittsburgh and America’s music scene, breaking barriers in 1948 as the country’s first Black woman to become a DJ. The Homestead native established Studio Dee in the Hill District and debuted “Movin’ Around with Mary Dee” on WAOB Radio.

Her impact echoes through Black Women’s History Month as many local Black women DJs continue her legacy, captivating audiences with more than just beats and sounds, taking them on a transformative journey on the dance floor.

Meet four women doing just that.

‘Worldly’ sound

Fans of Afro beats — a genre that originated in West Africa and combines traditional West African music with modern sounds like hip-hop, dancehall (a Jamaican genre) and electronic music — are likely familiar with Bria Thomas, 30, who goes by Femi or DJ Femi.

Thomas has performed at local venues including Mixtape in Garfield, Bottlerocket Social Hall in Allentown, Spirit in Lawrenceville, and Brillobox in Bloomfield. She has a penchant for wearing bright, bold colors, gold jewelry and statement-making curls.

Thomas started off producing and making beats in the music program KRUNK Movement, a production program for high school students run by the Center of Life in Hazelwood. She is also a pianist and cellist.

By 10th grade, she shifted from production to DJing.

“I acquired my own passion for it. I feel this sense of release, no matter what that release is — if it’s pain, happiness, expression, I am always releasing something,” Thomas said.

She also describes her sound as worldly, playing a set mixing a lot of disco, house music and Afro beats.

“That usually gets the crowd going. People will always dance if the vibe is right,” Thomas said.

Her biggest inspiration, in addition to her partner and family, are the people around her, the community of other DJs that take their profession seriously, and Black women DJs across the city.

“In the community, we all use each other to inspire each other,” Thomas said.

Knowing the legacy of Dudley makes Thomas want to “put on even harder, especially for the Black women DJs,” she said.

Thomas is well known throughout the city, but it is still weird for her.

“I’m still just an everyday person. I think it’s important to be able to turn off the performance side of me, balancing both those worlds, cause sometimes Femi can take over,” Thomas said.

Thomas and her partner DJ Wade Anthony are gearing up for their Summalumma DJ Festival in July at Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall in Lawrenceville.

Making a statement

Tresa Murphy-Green, 30, also finds inspiration from the community.

“Being able to go to places and see Black people in electronic dance music spaces, and the core of it is queer Black feminine and trans folks — we are pushing things out that are changing the world,” Murphy-Green, also known as DJ ICY PISCES, said.

Murphy-Green’s first set was at BOOM Concepts in 2017. Since that first gig, the Hill District native said there has been a lot of growth in the scene.

“When I first started DJing, I was leaving one community and entering into another,” Murphy-Green said.

Much of Murphy-Green’s work is toward organizing and activism. Murphy-Green learned from DJ JB Jackson and started out in the underground hip-hop male-centered space. A residency at Brillobox allowed Murphy-Green to learn about other genres, including electronic dance music and club music.

Murphy-Green’s mixes are very expressive.

“I’ve included poetry in some of my mixes and interviews with people like Alice Walker and the people who really inspire me to make a statement on Blackness and queerness,” Murphy-Green said.

Murphy-Green’s favorite times DJing are when the inhabitations are gone, when everyone is on the same beat and in the moment.

“It’s so magical just being a maestro of sorts — being that person controlling the vibe,” Murphy-Green said. “You become a magician and have the power to see people break through some stuff on the dance floor. That is what becomes beautiful because now we are in this journey together.”

Murphy-Green found out about Mary Dee Dudley when she first started on her DJing journey.

“It made me think I am walking in the path of my ancestors on these here Appalachian Hills, that’s how I be feelin’ about being from my city,” Murphy-Green said of Dudley’s influence. “It’s one thing to be a Black woman DJ in Pittsburgh, it’s another thing to be a Black femme creative … we usually have to leave for our genius to be loved on and appreciated.”

Murphy-Green is performing at Minka, a monthly party at Umami Japanese restaurant in Lawrenceville on April 21.

‘Everyone should have their own style’

Jasmine Scott, 33, who goes by the stage name YAS, left Pittsburgh to expand her DJing career and is now based in Atlanta. Scott returns to Pittsburgh every few months. She recently performed at Trace Brewing in Bloomfield.

“DJing, of course, you have to make it sound good, but everyone should have their own style, turn it into your way, and voilà,” said Scott, who defines her sound as upbeat and hypnotic.

Scott learned the craft by being around other DJs and immersing herself with DJ music content.

“The way that I curate my music is to take people on a journey — trigger some good memories or music that they didn’t know they needed to hear,” she said. “I have some Yoruba and Kenyan background. My father was also a Caribbean DJ from Montego Bay, Jamaica, so I do love some Afro beats and the drums, things that make you feel good, Afro fusion styles of music. It awakens something in you.”

Scott is a firm believer in using music to heal. In a male-dominated field, Scott uses all of her expertise in radio, event planning and modeling to navigate the industry.

”Despite the hurdles, I know it’s for me. The fact that I can just get up and go anywhere and still be booked is amazing,” Scott said. “This is one of my purposes.”

From the Bronx to the ‘Burgh

Bronx native Sarah Huny Young has family from the Hill District and lives in Pittsburgh now, too.

Music is Young’s passion and first love. Under the DJ moniker HUNY XO, Young’s first set was in 2019 at Ace Hotel Pittsburgh.

“I started DJing because I had always worked in nightlife back in New York. I chose that to be my first gig because there was no pressure,” Young said.

For Young’s first set, Young was billed as a music selector rather than a DJ.

“I consider myself a music lover. I grew up going to concerts almost every weekend with my mom and dad,” Young said.

Young is also a classically trained pianist and learned about a wide range of genres. Back at the very first gig, Young played queer underground music — music outside of the mainstream created by LGBTQ+ artists spanning multiple genres that express sentiments relevant to the community.

“And I didn’t know it on that day — I didn’t know what it would turn into — but I knew I had to keep doing it because it brought me a lot of happiness,” Young said.

“Music is very emotional to me, and I want to build emotions when I am playing — the complexity of layering sound,” Young said.

It is important for Young to transform the music in some way, thinking about the origins of techno coming from Detroit and the origins of house music from Chicago.

“I love hip-hop and music typically associated with us. I am also a queer person and I love ballroom, basically voguing music, dancehall,” Young said. “We have so much Black talent here.”