Throughout our city’s history, there have been many amazing women who have gone from performing at small local venues to headlining shows all over the world. From stars of a bygone era such as Ann Peebles and Anita Ward to the current stars we’ll profile today, the accomplishments of our city’s women is difficult to overstate. The number of women to have been successful has expounded over the years and continues to grow. Below are six current Bluff City women who have seen their careers blow up in recent years.
Julien Baker
Julien Baker, a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist with a total of 1,017,787 listeners on Spotify has now grown into an internationally-renowned artist that graces big stages far and wide. Her amazing song “Souvenir” is a recent breakthrough hit with upwards of 30 million listeners jamming to it. Known for her raw and confessional lyricism, Baker has been featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts not once but twice, and is now touring the world to places such as Barcelona, Madrid, London, Germany, and Sweden. Covering gigs for big names like Paste Magazine and CBS Mornings, one could say our girl, Julien, has made it and is loved not only in Memphis, but all across the nation! That’s what you call a hard working woman!
Valerie June
Valerie June has been gifting the industry with her beautiful vocals for many years. After first becoming a local sensation with her take on folk and gospel music, she became a Grammy-nominated artist for Best American Roots song. With a total of 729,998 listeners, she continues to grow beyond measures and finds her way into many other cities’ hearts. She received a feature from music great Carla Thomas and even made an appearance on NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Valerie continues to grow as she is signed with Fantasy Records & Concord Music Group. This will not be the last time you hear of Miss Valerie June!
Jucee Froot
Lights, Camera, Action! Rapper Jucee Froot has all the actors, actresses, and directors covered with any track she releases! Her song “Danger” was featured on the film, “Birds of Prey”, while another song of hers “Down in the Valley” was chosen as the theme song for “P-Valley”. She even had her song, “Eat Itself” featured in one of the hottest shows around, HBO’s “Insecure”. Now don’t get it twisted, film and soundtracks aren’t the only thing that has Jucee Froot at the top! She had every lady dancing and showing what they got with her hit song, “Shake Dat Ass”, which was released back in 2019. She’s had many successful rappers featured on her albums such as Juicy J, Rick Ross, and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. Signed to Atlantic Records with over 1.8 million listeners on Spotify, we are proud of our girl, Jucee Froot, and commend her for putting on for M-town in the best way possible!
Kirby
Despite a series of potential career roadblocks and a series of “nos,” Kirby refused to be defeated. The Memphis-based R&B singer showed the world what she was made of and switched up the songwriting narrative after being told that “maybe being an artist wasn’t her lane.” Kirby began her career as a songwriter, writing huge hits for artists like Rihanna, Beyonce, and Ariana Grande. “Four, Five Seconds” by Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney, written by Kirby, spent 5 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Charts. Although being the one behind the pen was good for Kirby, she wanted more out of her career and began releasing her own music. In 2021, she opened up for artist and good friend Pink Sweats, and has been signed to Roc Nation’s label for quite a while. Yes, Roc Nation! Kirby’s strength is creating soul music that empowers women and tells the untold stories of love that are exactly what you need to get you through the day. Memphis is so very Proud!
Evvie McKinney
From smaller stages throughout the city to big ones across the world, Miss Evvie McKinney is doing it! Once a student of a few talent foundations in the city and a member of a music-loving family, she has now gone on to be the winner of the well-known television show “The Four.” Shortly after, Evvie’s song, “Just like God” from her 2018 EP, reached #1 on Billboard Gospel Airplay, while her song “Bring the Whole Hood” became a top 20 radio hit. She has graced the stages of TeenChoice Awards, BET, and the Iheart Music Festival. Now signed to Motown Gospel, McKinney’s future looks brighter than ever!
Wendy Moten
Wendy Moten, who has toured the world as a background singer for artists such as Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Martina McBride, has been opening doors for women for years. She has spent her career creating tracks that have reached Number 8 in the UK and making music with other greats in the industry. As a diverse singer covering all genres from jazz to country to R&B, Wendy Moten has leveraged her impressive skills into an exciting and successful career. She recently took her talents to the televised singing competition “The Voice” and closed out her year as a 2021 finalist. Go Wendy!
In honor of Women’s Month, we encourage you to support these women and continue to support Memphis music!
You might also be interested in: Five Questions with Kendrick P
