Our Mission
Bay Area Sistah Sound is a call for sisterhood amidst a crowded, male-dominated DJ/club scene. B.A.S.S. presents to music lovers and party people an addition to the upper pantheon of DJ crews: a team of women who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their best male counterparts behind the turntables. We represent the values and ethics of good deejaying - selection, mixing, turntablism, dancefloor-rocking - we have hip hop in our hearts but love for all genres of music. We put hard work, creativity, talent and femininity into producing a superlative musical experience whether it be on stage or booming from your heaphones. We are letting it be known that a fly sister in the club ain't just eye candy. Bay Area Sistah Sound beats in solidarity with other female djs as we drop the needle on the record and pump up the B.A.S.S.!
DJ Zita, DJ Shortee, DJ Pam the Funkstress, Gigi, and Fiyah Lilly at Everlasting Bass.
Who is B.A.S.S?
Bay Area Sistah Sound is the brainchild of DJ Zita, who tells it like it is: "I was discouraged by the fact that I was DJing either as the only woman on an otherwise all-male bill, or DJing with a line-up of all women at an event promoted by men. I realized that the only reason this was possible is because women DJs in the Bay do not have solidarity. We few women are all doing our own thing, and I feel that we need to come together in sisterhood."
Hand-selecting two veteran Bay women: Pam the Funkstress of the legendary Oakland group The Coup, and DJ Neta, a club staple and headliner since the late '90s, Zita built B.A.S.S. with nothing less than the goal of forming the premier lady DJ crew. A multitalented group, Neta is currently on DJ hiatus as she takes time out to raise a baby girl (future B.A.S.S. member) and finish her Ph.D. Nearly every weekend at the best clubs on both sides of the Bay, however, you can witness Pam cutting up the choice classics and current club bangers (without her hands if you're lucky!), or Zita keeping a dancefloor enthralled with everything from freestyle to 80's to reggae dancehall riddims. In February 2010, Zita added sistah DJ Similak Chyld to the crew, and in June 2010, she added hostess Altered Ground.
Zita, who was also a founding member of Hawaii's first female DJ crew, Sisters in Sound, intended for Bay Area Sistah Sound to create a foundation from which women can self-produce and promote music and club events. Such events could support and feature up-and-coming lady DJs, bring in local and worldwide women as headliners, and provide a space for strong sisters on the mic and the dancefloor to share their talents. The Sistahs currently throw down at Everlasting B.A.S.S. alongside guest DJs and live performers.