Watch Nile Rodgers & CHIC play NPR’s Tiny Desk room. The dance/R&B/hip-hop pioneer took the audience through all five decades of his work starting with his 1978 hit “Le Freak.” He shared songs he wrote for others including Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Chic’s intersection with hip-hop comes from The Sugarhill Gang’s famous sampling of “Good Times” on their song “Rapper’s Delight.” Rodgers performed both songs surprising the crowd by rapping. The “Get Lucky” collaboration with Daft Punk was also on the setlist. Vocalist and keyboard player Russell Graham let everyone know that Rodgers wrote the score for Coming To America with a mighty falsetto led snippet of the Soul Glo advertisement song from the movie. Rodgers and his band are currently on tour in Australia and will be in Las Vegas and the Bahamas before the year is over. 

Chic debuted as a band in 1977 with their self-titled album which was mostly written and produced by co-founders Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)” was their first single and they had conceptualized it as a tribute to American dance marathons of the 1920s and 1930s. Producer and songwriter Kenny Lehman worked with them on the song as a co-writer and producer. They were inspired by American dance contests of the 1920s and 1930s and they added a jolt of funk with their interpretation of the actor Gil Young’s phrase ‘Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah’ from the movie They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Tony Thompson’s boxy-sounding drum kit, symphonic strings plus Rodgers and Edwards’ rhythm and bass guitars were the height of musicianship in disco music. Norma Jean Wright was the lead vocalist and Alfa Anderson, who would become the lead singer on the next album, provided background vocals with Luther Vandross.

Models Valentine Monnier and Alva Chinn who was one of the early Black models were photographed for the album cover. “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)” was a big record for Chic scoring Top Ten and Top 40 chart positions domestically and abroad as well as a Gold certification. They considered themselves the rock band of the disco world with their global dance anthems which would be sampled and covered endlessly in the future. The album was remastered and reissued in 2006 and 2011. In 2018, Chic released It’s About Time after a 26-year hiatus with a new lineup. In 2023, Rodgers won two Grammy Awards for co-writing “Cuff It” on Beyoncé’s Rennaissance album and a Special Merit Lifetime Achievement Grammy. Nile Rodgers & Chic are currently on the Duran Duran Future Past Tour. 

Will the record labels become more transparent about artist payments from streaming as Nile Rodgers has suggested? 

Came here to find foolishness in my replies. I am rushing to into an interview and this is the last time I’m saying this. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/En49BaoGRK

— Dionne Warwick (@dionnewarwick) December 7, 2020

Did you know that Dionne Warwick is on Twitter and writes her own posts? 

Did Snoop Dogg forget about the women in his music videos, his lyrics and admitting to being a pimp in the past when he criticized Cardi B and Meg The Stallion’s “W.A.P.” for not being modest? 

[youtube id=”MukY4QWbrFc”]Watch Nile Rodgers play his guitar and LunchMoney Lewis has an event-filled day in the “Do You Wanna Party” video. Nile Rodgers and Chic released It’s About Time in September after a 27-year hiatus. The latest single departs from the classic Chic sound but Rodgers’ guitar holds it all together. The band is currently touring with Cher.