Sonshine

Prince has always fostered credible female music-makers, from Wendy & Lisa to Sheila E to Rosie Gaines. He's discovered a very contemporary talent in the vivacious Los Angeles DJ Rashida Robinson, who lately toured Australia with him. This week a solo Robinson will play the launch of the Melbourne Festival Hub. “I am super excited,” she exclaims. In fact, it'll be her fourth visit. “The last time I was there I was with Prince. The time before that, I was on the Good Vibrations tour with Kelis. And the time before that, I was in a band called PlantLife and I went out with them.”

Robinson was gigging with the boho soul PlantLife when she met Prince in the early 2000s. “I was doing a little rapping and singing and background stuff.” She was also resident DJ at LA's House Of Blues. Prince approached her to DJ a bash but, coincidentally, PlantLife were committed to an Australian tour. ”He's like, You're gonna hear about this party and be mad about it.” Robinson admits to feeling torn – and “bummed”. “My homeboy [PlantLife frontman] Jack Splash, his joke was that Prince was stealing me and putting me into his band!” Prophetic...

Robinson, a fine arts grad, began DJing in 'Hotlanta'. “I have no desire to live in Atlanta again, but I don't think I would have become a DJ if I hadn't lived there. I moved to Atlanta when I was 13 going on 14. There was some crazy stuff happening back home and so my dad picked me up and took me to Atlanta. I went to high school there and I also went to college, art school, there – and that's where I was when I got my turntables and got into DJing.” Initially, Robinson, a self-described purist, spun rare groove. ”I very much just played what I wanted.” Her mission was to “break” records that radio might neglect. But, realising that DJing had become “a full-on career,” she started to “adapt”, determined to be versatile musically. “In the beginning I didn't care. It wasn't about [making a living] at all. It was just a hobby. It's what I did for fun. I didn't really give a crap about the business side of it.” Back in California, Robinson found herself booked for celebrity and corporate parties (she's just DJed a GQ function). She was even hired to DJ on the MTV show America's Best Dance Crew. Today Robinson covers the spectrum of hip hop, R&B, dancehall, Latin, house and rock. “I had to learn how to play the Top 40 kind of set, but make it fun and still find a way to put my music and my touch into it.”

Robinson still digs alt.urban, namechecking Frank Ocean, Lianne Le Havas, and Flying Lotus bassist Thundercat. Not that she doesn't like pop. “There's actually really good pop music out right now, which is very pleasing to me because there was a period when I was not feeling almost any of it.” Robinson, “a house head” of old, likewise appreciates the new electro-fuelled urban. “As a DJ, I love it 'cause I love mixing house – mixing hip hop is fun, cutting and whatever, but mixing house is a feeling. I really enjoy it.” Nevertheless, Robinson senses an imminent backlash. “The house thing is gonna go the way of maybe like disco... It's just got to the point where people are getting burnt out on it.” She hopes pop will re-embrace “real” instrumentation, possibly combining it with digital elements.

DJing for Prince, Robinson has carte blanche – and he's the ultimate music teacher. “Oh man, I have learned and been exposed to just so much. I'm super grateful to have been close to him and him be a friend to me and [to] get to go on these adventures and really just see and hear all of these beautiful things, basically. It's been amazing. He is music, so you can't help but learn a lot being around him.” Robinson is tentatively considering recording her own music, but also wants to continue creating her visual art. “I need to figure that out, actually – how to make it all work together.”

DJ Rashida Robinson will be playing the following shows:

Thursday 11 October – Foxtel Hub, Melbourne VIC
Friday 12 October – Love Nightclub, Gold Coast QLD
Saturday 13 October – Yo Yo, Melbourne VIC