It was music as party, energy release and education. I love talking with Honey Dijon. She always makes me think and then think again. Born and raised in Chicago, Honey was witness to and participant in the evolution of House music. She revelled in the underground. Growing up within that dance music culture, Honey also schooled herself about fashion and art, often from the pages of style magazines that she obsessively sought out.
Cut to today, and Honey Dijon is one of the most celebrated DJs in the world. She has reached this point through her sheer talent, commitment, taste, drive and a physicality to her DJing that charges rooms with energy. I fear for any DJ on a line up who follows her. She is one of the most visible trans women in the world. Honey is ready to release her second album, Black Girl Magic, once again using the tracks as a platform to collaborate with black queer artists.
Honey played there in the daytime, and aerial shots of the crowd are like watching a CGI-rendered swarm. She has soundtracked some of the most significant catwalk shows of recent times, especially those of designer Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton and then Dior Men. It was Honey who soundtracked the Louis Vuitton show that revealed its collaboration with Supreme.
I list all these to mark her achievements, but also to say that Honey has always seen the connection between it all. She seeks the beauty in cross-pollination, the meeting point of art, fashion, music, sex, clubs and counterculture, and the importance of using her platform to make sure voices from those communities are heard. Further, she understands that, while the dance music industry has become a billion-dollar global machine, many of the histories and participants of true dance music culture are still not given the respect or attention they are due.
Honey Dijon could never take a break. She lasted a couple of days. Her life was her work. As a black trans woman, no-one else was going to make it happen for her except herself. Then the pandemic struck. Honey has her health, as does her family. A lot of other DJs are completely fucked. What kind of job can you just go out and get when there are no jobs? Since dancefloors shut down, Honey has spent much of the pandemic going through her archives.
