DJ Spinderella is a legend, part of one of hip-hop's most celebrated rap groups, Salt-N-Pepa. The trio has sold more than 7 million records and influenced some of your favorite pop stars, from Rihanna to Nicki Minaj. Spinderella casts a large shadow. So it's a good thing that her daughter, Christy Ray Anderson, is a chip off the old block.
Christy Ray, whose father is retired NBA player Kenny Anderson, was born in New Jersey, spent a few years in Long Island, then spent the rest of her growing-up years in Los Angeles with her famous mom. As a kid, Christy Ray was always curious about her mother's profession, but says she wasn't fully aware of the magnitude of either of her parents' stardom. They were just Mom and Dad. She says she never developed her dad's basketball gene, but by the time she was 11, she was actively spinning records around the house, mimicking her mother.
Eventually, Christy Ray, now 23, had the confidence to spin in front of a crowd. Her first gig was nationally televised during an '80s-themed episode of MTV's My Super Sweet 16. However, she puts an asterisk beside this accomplishment because MTV didn't pay for the licensing required to air her set list.
"What you're hearing is not me DJing," she says. "You were seeing me, but a lot of the time you weren't actually hearing [what I was playing]."
While attending Hofstra University, Christy Ray DJ'd here and there to make some extra cash. After graduation, she moved to Dallas, where her mother was the midday DJ at KSOC-FM (94.5) for a year. The two still live here. Dallas has grown on Christy Ray, and she says she prefers it to New York and Los Angeles.
"There's good stuff out here," she says. "There's good music out here. There's good things happening here and it's like, nobody else knows about it."
Last August, during Spinderella's "Fresh 45s" residency at Crown and Harp, Christy Ray spun records publicly in Dallas for the first time as a birthday present for her mom.
"I wouldn't count that as my first gig [here], that was more for her."
Since then, Christy Ray has quickly become one of many talented folks providing the wave in Dallas' cool-kid circuit. She's spun at Beauty Bar and Double Wide, and at John Stewart and Blue, the Misfit's All/Everything parties. This month, she's behind the decks on Saturdays at Off the Record.
On July 11, VH1 is resurrecting its Hip Hop Honors show, and this time around, it'll be a ladies' night. Lil' Kim, Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah and Salt-N-Pepa will receive honors. Christy Ray will attend the event with her mother. Unlike when she was a child, she's now acutely aware of the gravity of the situation.
Her mom is equally as excited to share the moment with her.
"I think I'm gonna be doing it to show [Christy Ray] the sky's the limit," Spinderella says. "You're talking about honoring some really strong powerhouses, iconic women that have laid some of those earlier standards for women in the industry."
It'll be a while before Christy Ray will be able to carry around her mother's proverbial torch. She'll just have to share the limelight, which is OK. At this point, they're both learning from each other. One offers up advice, the other helps with finding which songs are hot at the moment.
"[Spinderella's] not going to stop," says Christy Ray. "She has her hands insured. She's serious about it."
Pull Up With Niro and Christy Ray, July 2 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Off the Record, 2716 Elm St., Dallas. Free. facebook.com/OTRDallas.
H. Drew Blackburn is a freelance writer in Dallas.
