Valerie Olukemi A "Kemi" Olusanya (13 October 1963 – 25 April 1999), commonly known by her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Kemistry, was a leading English

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

DJ of the early 1990s, half of duo Kemistry & Storm, and co-founder of the

Metalheadz Metalheadz is a major 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 eff ...

record label.

Career

Born in Birmingham, Olusanya grew up in

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, and began a career as a

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and Prosthetic makeup, prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other simil ...

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, re ...

duo Kemistry & Storm, which she formed with an old friend when they both lived in London. 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 an English music producer, DJ, and actor. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musi ...

, 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 (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

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

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 counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, behind a van which dislodged a cat's eye in the road. The metal body flew through the windscreen and hit Olusanya in the face, killing her instantly. The

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

recorded a verdict of accidental death.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1963 births 1999 deaths British club DJs 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 English electronic dance music DJs