Keychange were proud to present a keynote conversation with DJ Paulette, winner of the DJ Mag Top 100 Lifetime Achievement Award (November 2022), a highly regarded DJ across the UK and Europe, and born and raised in (and still resident of) Manchester at Liverpool Sound City 2023. Here we were also honoured to present DJ Paulette with the latest Keychange Inspiration Award!

Winner of the DJ Mag Top 100 Lifetime Achievement Award (November 2022) DJ Paulette is a highly regarded DJ across the UK and Europe, born and raised in (and still resident of) Manchester. Over a 30-year career, she has scaled the heights of dance music fame and hedonism playing disco, house and techno to huge crowds and in cool underground basements. She is a dj who is renowned for consistently ‘smashing’ every set she plays. One of two women to have a residency at the Hacienda in its heyday, she went on to have residencies at Heaven and Ministry of Sound, before successful stints in Paris and Ibiza. She has a keen talent for reinvention and replicating excellence. She is known for her monthly radio shows with Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM, Reform Radio and a Global Residency show produced in collaboration with The Radio Department that is syndicated to stations around the world and is a regular dj guest and presenter stand in for various shows on BBC 6 Music.

Last year she played headline sets at Beams in London, Warehouse Project – Glitterbox, Homobloc and Hacienda, in the NYC Downlow for Block 9 at Glastonbury, Beatherder, Brixton Disco Festival, Worldwide Festival in Sete, Mighty Hoopla, Horsemeat Disco in Berlin, Kelburn Garden Party, The National Theatre River Stage, Gilles Peterson’s stage for All Points East, Brighton Pride, Glitterbox at Hi Ibiza, Flow Festival in Finland, Homoelectric, Feel It at Omeara and Fatboy Slim’s Weekender ‘All Back to Minehead’ whilst 2023 kicked off with sets at Faith at 93 Feet East, Trade at The Egg, HeSheThey at Ministry of Sound, Kaiku in Helsinki, Corsica Studios and Blitz Club in Munich. There is much more to come!

Aside from dj’ing Paulette is an events and exhibition curator and a regular contributor to radio shows as diverse as Jamz Supernova on 6Music, Radcliffe and Maconie , Afrodeutsche’s ‘The People’s Party’, Amy Lame, Anamatronic’s ‘Dance Devotion’, Eats Everything’s ‘Edible Beats’. She sits on the Regional Committee for the Musicians’ Union and is a Power Up mentor for shesaidso. She is putting the finishing touches to her debut book which is called ‘Welcome To The Club: The life and lessons of a black woman DJ’ which will be published in January 2024 by Manchester University Press.

DJ Paulette on receiving the award:

“ Thank you to Keychange, Sound City Conference, PRS and the Musicians’ Union for presenting me with the Keychange Inspiration Award 2023. It is a great honour to accept it and take it home for Manchester, my home, my heartbeat. To everyone who has had my back - I love and thank you and to every one who hasn’t, I learn from and thank you too.”

Awarded at: Liverpool Sound City 2023

Expertise: DJ, Broadcaster

Link: Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Twitter