The Goddess Wanda Dee and the Polar Bear Eric Floyd invade Str8Facts wit Gutta………….
Born in Harlem on April 12th (the same day her greatest inspiration, JOSEPHINE BAKER died in her sleep) & raised in The Bronx during the birth of Hip Hop... after emerging as the genre's only female DJ in the 70's, in the 80's, WANDA DEE made musical Herstory as Hip Hop's 1st female inductee into The Universal Zulu Nation by her DJ mentors AFRIKA BAMBAATAA & KOOL HERC (The Godfather & Father of the genre), 1st female Hip Hop DJ (forever historialized & personally cast by HARRY BELAFONTE himself in his urban cult classic "BEAT STREET" - https://youtu.be/3qNitpRqK-Q), 1st female Rapper to go platinum with "TO THE BONE" - (https://youtu.be/_6m65MD-nYo) b/w "THE GODDESS" - (https://youtu.be/x8vCCzmti5c) & 1st & only female Rapper signed to The U.K.'s most successful production team of STOCK, AITKEN & WATERMAN on PWL Records, where she debuted "BLUE EYES" - (https://youtu.be/ZT1fplC3L_w), her 3rd platinum single! One of the biggest catalysts for WANDA's 3 consecutive platinum successes (unprecedented record sales for a female in Hip Hop at that time) was the estimated $40 million dollars worth of publicity she received when as part of her Husband's annual traveling high school show entitled Eric Floyd's ALLSTAR CAVALCADE EXPRESS in 1989 (w/MARC ANTHONY, BEVERLY JOHNSON, MC LYTE, FULL FORCE, CYRE', CHRIS ROCK, IRIS CHACON, CORINA & others) at Eastside High School in Patterson, NJ (home of the infamous principle, JOE CLARK, depicted in the 1989 film classic; "LEAN ON ME") WANDA's over-the-top, signature sensuous performance of her Tuff City single; "THE GODDESS" literally stopped the show when WANDA ripped the pants off of her (4) four muscular male dancers (who posed behind her in syncopation to the music wearing only silver lame' G-strings - https://youtu.be/_C2eJ9zRZn0). The resounding multimedia controversy that followed was truly the proverbial 'shot heard round the world' as WANDA DEE & COMPANY found themselves on everything from PEOPLE MAGAZINE, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, THE TODAY SHOW, PEOPLE ARE TALKING, A CURRENT AFFAIR, just to name a few) and WANDA's record sales went through the roof, both domestically and overseas. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/11/nyregion/principal-to-be-suspended-over-strippers.html. As the 80's came to a close, WANDA made her 2nd featured appearance in a motion picture, and this time it was the urban cult classic; "EAST SIDE STORY" (https://youtu.be/5VGPQCa34Hg), which was written, produced, costarred in & cast by her Husband, ERIC FLOYD (who also discovered, cast & theatrically trained a then 17 year old budding Latin superstar, MARC ANTHONY and CORINA).
It was at this time that WANDA's living legendary friends & femtors like DIONNE WARWICK, ERNESTINE JACKSON, VIVIAN REED, IRIS CHACON, EARTHA KITT, LENA HORNE, DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY, GRACE JONES, DIANA ROSS, DIAHANNE CARROLL, JOSEPHINE BAKER & her legendary 'showbiz' Mom, FREDA PAYNE (& 'showbiz' Aunt, The Supreme Miss SCHERRIE PAYNE) kicked into full bloom as she creatively and artistically transitioned from DJ / Rapper to Singer.
In the 90's, after selling over 3 million records in the Rap game, PETER WATERMAN re-signed Wanda to a new $5 million dollar recording / publishing deal with PWL, but this time as a singer (going down in history as ' the LAST act signed to SAW / PWL' https://youtu.be/MBi59bj9xCU); before their official disbanding after more than 200 Top 10 singles) where she was soon discovered by two interns there (BILL DRUMMOND & JIM CAUTY of THE KLF) who enlisted her no nonsense vocals & writing abilities to fashion the first initial two hit singles "WHAT TIME IS LOVE?" & "LAST TRAIN TO TRANCENTRAL" - (https://youtu.be/sCBZBzuxVd0) off of THE WHITE ROOM album, which went on to score over 35 million records sold (to date) worldwide, platinum status in 77 countries & a demand for live shows by 'The Voice Of THE KLF'! In fact, they still hold the Guinness Book Of World Record title as 'The #1 Singles Selling Act of The 90's'!
With now (4) four #1 records from one album (https://youtu.be/3Jmjd2I0SnU) charting globally, KLF producers abruptly disbanding, being world renowned as the erotic centerpiece of their groundbreaking music videos & having both a vested publishing interest in robust record sales as well as the personal blessing of ARISTA / BMG CEO CLIVE DAVIS, Wanda (after a swift legal wrangling with THE KLF) took THE KLF show on the road under the guise of THE KLF featuring WANDA DEE, only after KLF Producers, BILL DRUMMOND & JIM CAUTY vehemently refused both WANDA DEE & CLIVE DAVIS' repeated request to all tour together in support of THE WHITE ROOM! As far as "refuses" go, THE KLF Producers also refused to honor certain aspects of their settlement contract with WANDA that included (1) remixing an original master track that she sent them entitled "I DO AS I DAMN WELL PLEASE" & (2) all music video and single releases that contained both the vocals and/or images of WANDA were supposed to read: 'THE KLF featuring WANDA DEE'. Deliberately choosing NOT to honor the aforementioned points in their contract with WANDA would soon be the source of much regret and controversy for THE KLF Producers, for when coupled with their absolute refusal to tour in promotion of their KLF releases, KLF Performer, taking her cues from Arista/BMG (whose job was to "sell records") took off around the world in promotion of the groundbreaking album and never looked back.
Selling out in some 48 U.S. states, 150 cities in 90 countries on 6 continents, her high octane signature exotic, erotic & hypnotic shows have gone unchallenged as The Hottest Live Show in Dance Music, complete with muscle bound agile male & female dancers, costume changes, breathtaking choreography staged by her Producer / Husband ERIC FLOYD (renowned Broadway / movie / TV showman) & a repertoire aplomb with several of the (7) seven languages she sings in... earning her the well deserved international titles of; The Empress of EDM... The Queen of Steam... The Diva With Fever... & The Goddess.... https://youtu.be/HfHJtDjMH84.
In the 2000's, having continued multi-platinum success with solo album / single CD releases ("I WANNA SEE YOU SWEAT" / "I LIKE I HARD" (https://youtu.be/Bp8BdLoTUD8) / "THE GODDESS IS HERE!" featuring superstar guest star duets w/FREDA PAYNE on "I AIN'T BEEN LICKED", D'ATRA HICKS on "LOVE DIVINE" & LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY on "DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY" which amazingly featured the incredible background vocals by WANDA's Diva Fever All-Stars assembled by her Manager, ERIC FLOYD with the celebrated likes of PEGGI BLU, SHARON BROWN, LINDA CLIFFORD, WANDA DEE, CAROL DOUGLAS, THE EMOTIONS, TAANA GARDNER, LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY, FONDA RAE, VALERIE SIMPSON on piano, YVONNE TURNER, ALYSON WILLIAMS & CAROL WILLIAMS) & with multiple residences in the U.S. but mainly residing in Las Vegas, where she performs regularly as part of her Husbands OLD SCHOOL PARTY shows (https://youtu.be/BZACxYr7_0c), she is proud to still be THE ONLY KLF LIVE SHOW IN THE WORLD in the groups 3 decade+ long existence; a claim that no other 90's dance band can make. For the only name that fans have sought to sing & bring the magic, mystery, mastery, melody & majesty of THE KLF music to the masses was, is & will always be... The Goddess, WANDA DEE!
Currently inducted into The Smithsonian's Black Culture Exhibit, Universal Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, features in over 100 Hip Hip history books, with record breaking TV ratings on BET (https://youtu.be/hYhBE6Rr6oU), her Live In Tokyo TV special was #1 rated in Japan, China & Southeast Asia as it was seen by an estimated 200 million people - https://youtu.be/lDtDXO9r3aE, over 500,000 people cumulatively in Europe (https://youtu.be/FHRou4USGZI), over 100,000 people in Russia (https://youtu.be/1DY59ULh8Gg), over 200,000 people in Estonia (https://youtu.be/1BFqh_LmFwE) & upcoming headlining engagements internationally from Norway (https://youtu.be/ZEOqpdFRBKU) to the U.K. (https://www.festicket.com/festivals/rezerection-park/ - https://www.skiddle.com/festivals/rezerection-in-the-park/lineup.html) in the new year ahead, with global hot new releases, WANDA DEE is poised to follow in the Pop/Rock/EDM stadium filling stilettos of the legendary TINA TURNER herself!
WANDA has been married to her Husband / Manager / Choreographer & Producer, international impresario, ERIC FLOYD and they have a multitalented Son, sIAMeze ('The Godson Of Rock & Soul') who was both Vegas' youngest headliner (https://youtu.be/hSYeP-KeP54) and an X-FACTOR U.S. finalist (https://youtu.be/80S5T7RzDUI)... together, they own and operate a multimedia production company, GODDESS EMPIRE ENTERTAINMENT and G.E.R.L. (Goddess Empire Record Label).
