The Legacy Of US House Music Legend Cecilia "CeCe" Peniston

The US house music queen Cecilia "CeCe" Peniston released her classic Finally over 25 years ago. This transcendent track is now embedded in pop culture. Even that art-rapper Travis Scott has put his twist to Finally, with 2016's trappy DJ Mustard collaboration Whole Lotta Lovin'. And Peniston dug La Flame's Auto-Tuned vocalising on top of the sample. "I love his rendition of what he did," she tells OG Flavas. "The funny thing is he sings part of Finally in his show and I use part of his song in mine. I start off Finally with his version and then I go into mine – 'cause the millennials, and people who haven't heard that version of [Whole Lotta Lovin'], think, 'Oh, nice transition – I like that.' So I actually love what he did to it."

Peniston, travelling to Australia for the second time this year after the Mardi Gras festivities, is everything you might imagine: regal, poised, charming, exuberant and witty. The award-winner's American publicist addresses her as "Miss Peniston". As the super-diva speaks down the line, her pooch yaps excitedly in the background. "My dog is being a brat," she quips.

For a long time, the entertainment media celebrated dance music's (predominantly male) DJ/producers. But, latterly, there's been greater focus on the scene's female singers and songwriters – notably the black women, who, as well as being 'icons', directed the culture. Here, Peniston is a key auteur. Still, while recognised as a house diva, she has a neglected history in R&B.

Ohio-born, Peniston grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She sang in church, talent shows and local theatre productions. Peniston likewise competed in beauty pageants, receiving the title of Miss Black Arizona in 1989. With her gospel voice, Peniston aspired to be an R&B artist, specialising in ballads. 

The DJ/producer Felipe Delgado approached her to provide backing vocals for an album by the upcoming female rapper Overweight Pooch. This led to Peniston serendipitously signing to A&M Records. In 1991, she premiered with Finally – which blew up internationally, becoming an LGBTQIA anthem. Peniston had penned the lyrics as a poem in a (boring) college class. To her delight, Finally was memorably synced for The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (years on, Peniston attended the musical in London with her mother).

Following the likes of Donna Summer in the '70s, many a soul vocalist straddled R&B and disco (or house) – styles then otherwise separated. Keen to flex her versatility, Peniston dipped into R&B on her albums – beginning with 1992's debut, also entitled Finally. But her third album, I'm Movin' On, was marketed as 'urban'. The singer teamed with super-producer Dave "Jam" Hall for the lead single, Movin' On – hip hop soul.

Hall had cut hits with Mary J Blige (You Remind Me), Mariah Carey (Dreamlover, Fantasy) and Madonna (Human Nature). I'm Movin' On included, too, Peniston's emotive duet, Before I Lay (You Drive Me Crazy), with her rumoured boo, JoJo Hailey, of the New Jack Swing troupe Jodeci. Alas, some critics – and fans – weren't down with Peniston's supposed switch-up. They unfairly assumed she was turning her back on house. 

"A lot of people didn't understand me," Peniston says of I'm Movin' On. "That was just an extension of what I had already done. For instance, I had already done I'm In The Mood, I'm Not Over You, Keep On Walkin' – all of those cuts were R&B… So it's not like people hadn't heard it from me before. For me, it wasn't a foreign thing. It was just like, 'Hey, I'm dedicating more of this album to this genre of music.' But some people just wanted to hear more of the Finally; more of the dance music. But, then, there were those couple of people [who were] like, 'Oh, I didn't know you could do that. OK, I loved it – I love what you're doing.' But, unfortunately, the record companies at the time were merging in a different way and so there was a lotta people that didn't get to hear that representation of me." 

In fact, Peniston had always resisted genre classifications. "I don't like to be in a box," she laughs. "I don't like when people put me in a box and tell me, 'Look, this is what you have to do.' That's my rebellious spirit somewhere. I'm like, 'No, I don't have to do what you say!' It's just one of those things. As artists, I think we should have the creativity to be able to do what we feel. Does that mean everyone's gonna accept all of that? Absolutely not."

In the early '90s, R&B was often deemed more prestigious than house – party fare. In contrast to their European counterparts, US majors were not necessarily on board with the new black dance music. House carried a stigma especially in hip hop circles (possibly due to latent homophobia). Kanye West kept hush about his formative years working under Chicago's Eric "E-Smoove" Miller, though he's since sampled house classics. Yet house's female vocalists were innovative. Baltimore's Ultra Nate, best known for 1997's Free, could be described as the garage Grace Jones with her high-concept albums. Nonetheless, as both a dance and urban act, Peniston furthered an alternative commercial paradigm. Moreover, she foreshadowed the trend where DJ/producers rely on 'feature' vocalists for star power. In 2018, singers appreciate a DJ collab as an opportunity to build their profiles – or sustain them during lulls. Indeed, post-Destiny's Child, Kelly Rowland made a huge comeback connecting with David Guetta for When Love Takes Over. In the meantime, hip hop producers have embraced house via EDM.

Today Peniston believes that it's easier to be artistically fluid – and audiences are more open-minded. "I think that with streaming, with people being independent and being able to be the record company then, that makes a big difference in the flow of things. I think that people are like, 'Look, I wanna try this and do this or that.' And, with records or singles coming out every three months, I think that makes a big difference. It's like, 'OK, this record didn't do so good, so what – I'll bring out something else in three months, or in a month, and people will be looking for it.' So I think that's what the thought process is. It's not like back in the day where people were like, 'Hey, you work a single for eight months to a year.' It's just a different mindset now." Additionally, streaming has allowed listeners to rediscover an album like I'm Movin' On. "So I think it's still a win-win situation, even if it didn't work out in that moment."

As it happens, Peniston has maintained unexpected ties to the '90s' urban scene. Currently, she's chronicling a 90-day fitness challenge with the Philly male vocal group Az Yet on social media. However, Peniston isn't about nostalgia. She's continued to air fresh music – most recently the single Hot as a modish remix package. And fans will enjoy a mix of old and new when Peniston joins DJs Carl Cox and Eric Powell's Mobile Disco (with Robin S of Show Me Love fame) here next month. "I'm actually gonna be performing all the hits that people are used to hearing, but then I'm gonna perform one or two new songs that they haven't heard yet and debut them there and see what people think about it. People wanna hear what they know, but then they also wanna hear new music, so I'll be doing that." 

Some 22 years on from I'm Movin' On, Peniston is unsure if she'll drop a future LP. "I would if I felt like I had the material – and enough good, good material to release – put an album together. Yeah, I would. But it is really the trend to do EPs now. A lotta people are doing that. But every good thing comes back 'round."

One of the biggest honours in Peniston's career was to sing at Aretha Franklin's birthday bash in Detroit (she shared a picture on the legend's passing). "Oh, man – that was so great," Peniston reminisces. "I was like, 'What is better than being able to perform for the Queen Of Soul, Miss Aretha Franklin?'" Another surprise was to come. "As I'm performing on the stage – I'm performing, doing my thing, right – I look out in the audience, I'm doing I'm Not Over You, and I look out and Aretha's dancing. I was like, 'Oh, snap, Aretha's dancing to my song…' It was a beautiful moment. I'll always remember it."

How would Peniston want popdom to view her own legacy? "You know what? That CeCe was a visionary; that she is the type of person, she's very driven and determined; that her music created memories for people across the globe, as far as for weddings, for babies, for relationships; [and] that she was always doing something new and innovative – always reinventing herself. And I've got a great sense of humour!"