#blondy

Gwendolyn 'Blondy' Chisolm, one-third of the all-woman hip-hop group, The Sequence, died April 6 of septic shock. Chisolm was 66 years old and recovering from a short illness. Almost 50 years ago, Chisolm and her friends Angela Brown and Cheryl Cook, whom she grew up with at the Saxon Homes Projects in Columbia, South Carolina, attended a Sugarhill Gang show, and it changed their lives. When tickets promised to Chisolm by her manager at the grocery store where she worked weren't at the box office, Brown flirted with the Sugar Hill Gang's manager, and he took them backstage. They performed an impromptu audition for Sugar Hill Records label head Sylvia Robinson. "Funk You Up" was the last song they did for Robinson, and Doug Wimbish of the Sugar Hill Band improvised "Funk You Up's" bass line during their audition. Robinson heard the song, knew it was a hit, and signed them as the first female act on Sugar Hill Records. Wimbish would eventually become the bass player for Living Colour. 

Angie B, Cheryl the Pearl, and Blondy became The Sequence. "Funk You Up" was their 1979 debut single, and it was a funk-meets-disco production. The lyrics came from some of their original cheers during their time as cheerleaders at C.A. Johnson High School. The song was the first ever released by an all-female rap act, and it sold 500,000 copies in three weeks. "Funk You Up" peaked at number 15 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. They also started writing and performing songs for other Sugar Hill acts like the West Street Mob. Cheryl the Pearl co-wrote "8th Wonder" and "Apache" for The Sugarhill Gang. Cheryl might have been the first rapper to use the term "gangsta rap" on The Sequence's 1980 single, "And You Know That." The Sequence recorded three albums with Sugar Hill Records before they decided to go in separate career directions in 1985. They refused to sign a new contract with the label because of a financial dispute. Cheryl the Pearl left the music industry and worked in home health care. Chisolm worked in telemarketing and as a songwriter for Sugar Hill before she saw Sylvia's husband Joe get pistol whipped. Brown eventually became Angie Stone, taking on the surname of her daughter's father, Rodney "Lil' Rodney C" Stone. She formed the group Vertical Hold before going solo and eventually collaborating with Prince, D'Angelo, and many more. Stone's 10 solo albums include two Gold titles, Black Diamond and Mahogany Soul. The Sequence reunited and performed "Funk You Up" at the 2008 Essence Music Festival.

The Sequence made history when hip-hop was just starting commercially. The Mercedes Ladies from the Bronx were formed in 1976, but they never recorded any music. MC Sha-Rock was the lone woman of The Funky 4+1, and solo rappers like Pebblee Poo, Lady B, and Lisa Lee paved the way for Roxanne Shante to become the first solo female rapper to gain notoriety with the success of "Roxanne's Revenge" in the '80s. When hip-hop history is discussed The Sequence are barely if ever mentioned despite them being sampled by Dr. Dre, KRS-One, En Vogue, Katy Perry, De La Soul, Chris Brown, and many others. The group famously sued Bruno Mars for using "Funk You Up" in the song "Uptown Funk." Erykah Badu interpolated "Funk You Up" into "Love of My Life Worldwide" with Stone, Queen Latifah, and Bahamadia on her Worldwide Underground album. 

Angie Stone passed in 2025 after being in a fatal car accident, and now Cheryl Cook is the last remaining member of the group. Gwendolyn 'Blondy' Chisolm was finishing her book, The First Blonde in the Hip Hop Game, at the time of her death.