FEATURE:
Smile On
Deee-Lite’s World Clique at Thirty-Five
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ONE of the best…
and more underrated albums of the 1990s arrived at the start of the decade. Deee-Lite’s debut, World Clique, was released on 7th August, 1990. Noted for its incredible and inventive mix of House, Soul, Pop and Dance, it is a quirky, colourful and joyous album that was released at a time when Hip-Hop especially was enjoying this golden era. Perhaps hard to connect with Hip-Hop pioneers of the late-1980s and 1990s, there is no doubt World Clique is this classic album that should be discussed more today. Perhaps hard to put into a particular genre or compare with anything around them, I wanted to spend some time with the debut from the New York trio of Super DJ Dimitry, Jungle DJ Towa Towa and The Lady Miss Kier Kirby. The group did release two more more albums after World Clique, though it is clear that their debut remains their best work. Their most surprising, immediate and enduring album. Many might recognise Groove Is in the Heart. The standout from World Clique, it was released as a single in August 1990. We also get to celebrate thirty-five years of one of the absolute best singles of that decade. I want to start off with a feature from PopMatters that was published in 2004:
“Deee-lite was already a popular group in New York’s underground club scene. The group exploded onto the national stage in 1990 on the strength of their single, “Groove Is in the Heart”. Originally a trio, the group consisted of lead vocalist Lady Kier, Super DJ Dmitry, and Jungle DJ Towa “Towa”. A huge part of Deee-lite’s appeal was their multicultural makeup; Lady Kier was born Kier Kirby in Youngstown, Ohio, while DJ Dmitry, born Dmitry Brill and Towa “Towa”, born Towa Tei, hail from the Ukraine and Japan, respectively.
I first became aware of Deee-lite by way of their campy video for “Groove Is in the Heart”. The video showcased Lady Kier, DJ Dmitry, and Towa “Towa” among an entourage of dancers adorned in kitschy, multi-color fashions and dancing with reckless abandon. Curious, I went to the store to purchase the album from which “Groove Is in the Heart” originated, World Clique, which also happened to be their debut. I was hooked immediately.
The title of Deee-lite’s debut is a tad misleading as some have misinterpreted the name World Clique to have elitist connotations concerning the group’s superior fashion sense. Fashion does indeed figure heavily into the Deee-lite mythos; prior to joining the group, Lady Kier was a student in textile design. Moreover, at this point, Kier designed the majority of the group’s outfits. I believe the title, World Clique denotes inclusiveness, however, on a global scale.
In all honesty, Deee-lite was very visual, from the plethora of color displayed in their garments and cover art to the vibrant psychedelics showcased in their music videos. There was something far more substantial to Deee-lite than their image, however; they effectively combined disco, funk, house, and soul to create a sound that was enticingly ethereal.
World Clique plays from start to finish like a night on the town that begins at one of New York’s trendiest clubs, circa early ’90s. The album boasts guest appearances from Q-Tip, formerly of Tribe Called Quest, funk legend Bootsy Collins, and saxophonist Maceo Parker. The set runs the gamut from retro-funk tracks like “Smile On”, “Try Me On… I’m Very You”, and “Who Was That” to deep house grooves like “Deep-Ending” and “Build the Bridge”. There’s also a hint of ambient in the title track and “E.S.P.”
Deee-lite later released two follow-up albums, Infinity Within and Dewdrops in the Garden in 1992 and 1994, respectively. Infinity Within was overtly political and boasted deep house and ambient grooves, whereas Dewdrops in the Garden, found the group fully embracing the then-burgeoning rave culture that they helped to usher in. They also added a new member on Dewdrops in the Garden, On-E. Both albums were innovative, but in no way as memorable as World Clique.
Through the years World Clique has continued to touch me with its prevailing themes of universal love and joy. I have been continually uplifted from the depths of sadness and doubt by each successive play of this album. It remains an integral part of my collection to this day”.
Prior to ending with a review, there is another feature that I want to come to. Albumism shared their thoughts and impressions of World Clique on its thirtieth anniversary in 2020. For anyone who has only heard Groove Is in the Heart and has not discovered the rest of the album, this is a perfect time to connect with Deee-Lite and their phenomenally confident and inventive debut album.
“From the moment that “Groove Is in the Heart” burst onto the scene in August 1990, music was never going to be the same again. Fronted by maestra Lady Miss Kier, with her electrifying red hair, unparalleled take on fashion and delicious sonant ability, it seemed only fitting that she be surrounded by the likes of DJ Dmitry (first as an initial duo) and later adding Towa Tei, culminating in the trio we came to know as Deee-Lite.
The group’s most synonymous song is most definitely “Groove Is in the Heart,” at least on a commercial level. All three band members contributed as songwriters, with funk legend Bootsy Collins providing the bass and some delicious guest vocals. The song’s main riff was sampled from the legendary Herbie Hancock’s “Bring Down The Birds.” R&B singer Vernon Burch also had his song, the incredibly funky “Get Up” sampled, being the basis for the drum track featured throughout the song, segueing into that now infamous slide whistle and breakdown featuring a rap by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest fame. With such diverse talent as this, sampling done right and a funked-up concept, this song was never going to be anything but legendary—and it was. It deservedly secured the number one spot in numerous charts around the world and smashed the top ten in countless others.
Continuing with their funky optimism and newfound triumph over the charts, the piano heavy “Power of Love” was released. Failing to replicate the overall commercial success of its predecessor, “Power of Love” became a number one hit not just on the dance charts, but also for house music lovers that had long been yearning for a track like this to fill clubs’ airwaves. The frequency was set to unabashed dance, with smiles and happy vibes the only accessories needed. Deee-Lite had well and truly arrived and for people like me, club kids sitting on the outskirts of “normal” and whatever that concept meant, Lady Miss Kier and her tribe permitted us to break the shackles of said normality and live confidently within our funky, freaky little selves.
Two additional singles were released from World Clique, the psychedelic heavy on house beats of “E.S.P” and the soulful “Good Beat.” In fact, it was starting to become very clear that whilst this was house music in its most authentic form, there was, and is no denying that Kier was bringing a very soulful flavor to her work (think: that “Ye Yay” signaling the end of “Good Beat”), not to mention a little scat and some serious disco elements too. Not to be sidelined by the music, Deee-Lite’s visuals were just as important and none more so than the videos that accompanied each song.
Whether it be the trippy psychedelic visuals of the late ‘60s that encompassed “Groove Is in the Heart” or the flower power element of “Power of Love,” Deee-Lite committed to the visual component of their artistic expression, making sure that it was yet another piece of their holistic puzzle. It would be criminal of me not to mention the video that accompanied “Good Beat,” set predominantly in an underground club to a hyper-mod vibe and the stuff of truly a thousand dreams, not to mention those dance breaks—heavenly. I still revisit this clip today when I need to escape the chaos of this world.
Deee-Lite also brought political messages to their music. At the beginning of the “Groove Is in the Heart” video, Kier introduces Deee-Lite and a “fake fur” caption is placed alongside her white fur coat. Although World Clique sat firmly within the peace and love ethos of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, it was clear that the band stood for more than just number ones and accolades, stances that would play a much more prominent role in their following two albums, 1992’s Infinity Within and 1994’s Dewdrops In the Garden. But for their debut, they managed subtlety in their messages whilst still getting their vision for a brighter, more loving future well and truly heard.
With twelve tracks making up World Clique and the likes of P-Funk lending their horny horns duo of Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker, not forgetting the aforementioned other artists that played their part in the making of this album, it was inevitable that something brilliant was going to come of these many and varied unions. Funk hooks coupled with the emotional depth of soul, and then transfusing them with house beats and the euphoria of a club is the unofficial recipe behind World Clique. An unadulterated, unspoiled and carefree trio that stayed true to what they believe, Deee-Lite were able to come across in their musical debut in the most organic, honest and heartfelt way”.
I am ending a review from SLANT. There are so many people who do not know about World Clique. When we talk about the greatest albums of the 1990s, a lot of the same albums appear. However, I think that Deee-Lite’s debut should sit among them. I feel the songs have aged really well. I would love to see more Pop and House music that took its lead from World Clique:
“From the global village, in the age of communication!” Lady Miss Kier fiercely announces on the album’s opening track, “Deee-Lite’s Theme,” setting the stage for the band’s giddy cultural-political dissections. The optimist/pessimist anthem “Good Beat” and its sister track “World Clique” are not apolitical: Despite the superficial implication of a line like “I just wanna hear a good beat,” Kier isn’t being passive—she’s championing a rhythm that unites instead of divides.
It’s not long before you realize these sampladelic hippies mean to tap into our human desire to celebrate cultural pride via dance. “Smile On,” Deee-Lite’s ode to the smile as a universal handshake, may be trite, but it’s happily so. Shouldn’t it be this simple anyway? And if you ever wanted to know what Rodin’s The Thinker was trying to figure out, look no further than “What Is Love?” Arguably the group’s single greatest moment, the song’s query may be eternally familiar, but it’s a philosophical proposition that’s written out in beats so succinct and universal as to suggest the track was composed entirely in Morse code; when Kier finally chimes in and responds to the voice asking the Big Question, it’s only natural that the beat reduces her silly schoolgirl adjectives to a mess of unintelligible scats that transcend any language barrier.
On “Try Me On, I’m Very You,” an especially coy Kier distorts a famously distorted Bible verse (her version: “Do unto me as I want to do to you”), celebrating the adage as a commandment of love, not judgment. Respect is earned, and the sinister, throbbing, and appropriately titled “Deep Ending” posits a relationship (is it romantic? Political?) spiraling out of control, and it’s not until the lyric-less “Build That Bridge” (prefiguring the Chemical Brothers’s “It Began in Afrika” by more than a decade) that a series of back-to-nature rhythms jump-starts—or is it chills out?—the troubles of the previous song. This is dance music as a celebration of cultural pride, in a language no one can misunderstand”.
Turning thirty-five on 7th August, there is still something dizzying and intoxicating about World Clique. It is an astonishing cross-pollination of cultures and genres. Arriving at a time when, as mentioned, Hip-Hop was ruling and enjoying its greatest moments, how did a group like Deee-Lite sit alongside them? As is true now as was true in 1990, World Clique is…
A kaleidoscopic masterpiece.