Jody Watley

Jody Watley has been my friend for over three decades. We met while collaborating on her worldwide hit “Don’t You Want Me,” and she has been such an example of resilience, loyalty, strength, and wisdom to me. Among her many talents she is a mom, an artist, a producer, an entrepreneur, and a spreader of love and good vibes! She’s the whole package, and I’m honored to call her my friend.

—Franne

Jody Watley is a Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum selling solo artist, songwriter, and producer and oneof the architects of 21st Century pop who forged the template that is now in everybody’s playbook.

Watley is a standard-setting force in the industry, from her groundbreaking marriage of rap and R&B on 1989’s “Friends” (a collaboration with hip-hop legends Eric B. & Rakim that is the first crossover of R&B/hip-hop, pop, and dance onto the Billboard Top 10) to her vision-forward personal branding. She brought together couture, vintage, and black girls’ streetwear style, all pairing perfectly with her music to show the relationship between high fashion and club culture. Her groundbreaking ad campaigns and breakthrough editorials in Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue Italia, and Rolling Stone created an indelible impression. Watley’s eventual fusion of jazz and underground club culture, and the ease with which she crosses genres, has opened the doors for greater acceptance of black women thinking outside the box in music and fashion.

In 2018, Billboard Magazine listed Watley among the Top 25 Dance Artists of All Time and the Top 60 Hot 100 Female Artists of All Time. Since her days as an original member of the trio Shalamar, Watley’s entire career has been about looking forward and drawing inspiration from the personal heroes and iconoclasts who were always ten steps ahead of the pack. The Chicago native’s eclectic repertoire spans decades and includes R&B, pop, dance, hip-hop, deep house, jazz, drum & bass, breakbeat, ambient, and spoken word– all built on a positive vision and a strong taste for artistic and aesthetic risk.

Jody Watley’s vast catalog of music can be found on all digital platforms. Her latest EP, Renderings,released in October 2021 and is available to stream now.

What is your favorite meal?

Currently it’s roasted garlic chicken, heavy mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, and avocadowith a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. When I’m more on the vegan side of things,I like sauteed shaved Brussels sprouts with garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinaigrette.

What is your most treasured possession?

My photo collection, especially of my kids growing up.

What do you love most about your work?

The authenticity through the years.

If you could have dinner with anyone one in the world who would it be?

My daughter Lauren and my son Arie, all three of us together, because the pandemic has kept us apart this past year and a half.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love early morning power walks appreciating natureand life, and I love to cook.

Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?

Maui with an ocean view—or Montecito, CA, ocean view!