Although Marea Stamper has only been releasing music as The Black Madonna since 2012, her story stretches much further back.
After moving from Kentucky to Chicago in her early 20s, Stamper made music under various aliases while working for Radek’s Dust Traxx label. After some time struggling to get attention for her music, Garrett David – an intern at Dust Traxx while Stamper worked there – asked to release ‘We Don’t Need No Music (Thank You Rahaan)’ on his new label. The whole story is told in an excellent RA feature, where Stamper admits that the success of that track, as well as a subsequent EP on Argot, Lady of Sorrows, “changed my whole life in a period of – not kidding – three months.”
As well as a renowned – and fantastic – DJ, Stamper is creative director at Smart Bar, a decades-old Chicago venue where as well as organising residencies for Honey Dijon, DVS1 and more, she’s diversified the club’s make-up with programs like this year’s DAPHNE, a series of workshops, parties and more in celebration of Women’s History Month, described as “a month full of reminders that women always have been and always will be central to dance and electronic music culture”.
On June 13, The Black Madonna will touch down in London for Found Festival, where she’ll be spinning alongside Andres, Tevo Howard and more on the Feelings stage (for tickets and more information, head here). Ahead of that, we’ve got her in the mix. Metro Area, Errorsmith, Session Victim and more feature, and it really is a thing of beauty.
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Tracklist:
Arthur Russell – The Deer In The Forest Part 1
Le Club – Un fait divers et rien de plus
Magnum Force – Cool Out
Red Axes – Me and Abra in Ruanda
Adam Port – E Sound Edit
Session Victim – Contribute
Merle – Mimi Like 2 Dance
Claudja Barry – Down And Counting (Emulator Dub)
Murat Tepeli – PSA (Play.Stop.Acid)
Chaka Khan – I Feel For You (Remix)
Fix – Dope Computer
International Music System – Bonus Single
Metro Area – Miura
The Flirts – Calling All Boys (Rahaan Edit)
Der Dritte Raum – Hale Bopp (Sebastien Leger Cover)
Hypnosis – Blade Runner End Title
Errorsmith – Stiff Neck
