Crystal Waters is a multi-platinum dance music icon, best known for her hit song 鈥淕ypsy Woman,鈥� widely considered one of the biggest classic house tracks ever.
Now, Waters is bringing her show, I Am House: Orchestrated, to the James L. Knight Center in Miami.
She鈥檒l be joined by fellow house legends like Robin S., Cece Peniston, Ultra Nat茅, Inaya Day and Thea Austin, performing their biggest hits alongside a full orchestra.
The idea for this concert series came up after an interview where she was asked how she felt she fit into house 鈥� accompanied by the assertion that the genre started in Europe.
鈥溾�奙y head kinda spun around, and I was like, 'Oh, no,'鈥� she said. 鈥淪o part of my mission now is to make sure people, as long as they know my name, know where house music came from. 鈥奍t came from the Black, brown and queer communities, and it came from here in America, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, DC. Jersey.鈥�
The first show was held in New York last November. Waters said the line wrapped around the block, and guests stayed and danced for hours after the event ended. She believes there is an older crowd in America that wants the house music they heard in the 90s, but not necessarily the clubs they used to frequent.
鈥淚t's an uplifting experience,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t's something to hear those live instruments with this uptempo music, and a lot of house music already has strings in it, so it's really something that you have to come and just enjoy.鈥�
Waters is one of many Black women whose voices pushed house into the mainstream. Her iconic chorus of "la da dee, la dee da" has hypnotized dancefloors all around the world since 1991 and is still heavily sampled in other songs today.
But she thinks that women simultaneously do and don鈥檛 get enough credit for their contributions to dance music.
Part of her push as an ambassador for house music includes helping women market themselves and recognize the importance of putting their name on records where they should be.
鈥溾�奣here's a lot of female DJs [but] do you see them headlining? It's very hard to break that glass ceiling,鈥� she said. "There are a lot of songwriters and singers on some of these new songs, and all you see is the DJ name 鈥� they're not giving credit for being even the vocalist sometimes.鈥�
Waters credits the queer community as not only being the first group to take her and her music in 35 years ago, but they also taught her how to command her stage presence.
鈥溾�奍 learned about performing just watching the drag queens 鈥� and these are still the best crowds,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 used to do the prides back in the day in New York because nobody else would do them."
Alongside these performances, Waters has her own music on the horizon. She plans to finish her latest album this spring. It鈥檒l most likely be her final album, but she鈥檒l keep creating new singles in the future.
She wants to bring I Am House: Orchestrated to more cities in the U.S. and in Canada to make sure as many of her fans can enjoy the celebration.
鈥溾�奍 want them to know that this is about them, this is their music, they're a part of this creation,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey made these songs hits 鈥� It wouldn't have been a hit without them, so this is really for them to enjoy.鈥�
IF YOU GO
What: I Am House Orchestrated
When: Wednesday, March 25
Where: James L. Knight Center
Ticket Information:
