DJ Paulette

Flesh, Wednesdays and a second room

Flesh turned Wednesdays at The Haçienda into the most flamboyant night in central Manchester. In that second room, with a DJ booth improvised on unstable tables, DJ Paulette became one of only two women with a monthly residency at the temple of acid house. She had debuted in 1991 at the Number 1 Club, after years as a junior reporter at Piccadilly Radio and a crate of funk, soul, rare groove, hip hop, and house vinyl. The LGBT+ scene on Canal Street gave her a lead when the straight circuit barely left room for a Black female DJ.

From the Mercury Prize to the Mix Club

In the mid-nineties, she moved to London. She played Garage at Heaven, the Zap Club in Brighton, and Ministry of Sound, and toured Europe, Asia, and America with the label's international tours. In parallel, she worked in PR and A&R: at Mercury and Talkin Loud, she boosted the Roni Size & Reprazent campaign that took New Forms to the Mercury Prize; at Azuli, she signed Afro Medusa's Pasilda, the label's biggest hit; and she helped launch Defected. On January 3, 1998, she recorded her first Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1.

Paris, Ibiza, and the pulse of Radio FG

In December 2004, she moved to Paris. Radio FG gave her a weekly residency, Le Mix Club four years in the booth, and Le Redlight nights alongside David Guetta. A street set in front of tens of thousands, with Étienne de Crécy and Bob Sinclar, solidified her status in France: Best DJette at the 2007 and 2010 Burn FG MTV Dance Awards. After Ibizan residencies at Itaca, Privilege, and Ibiza Rocks, she returned to Manchester in 2015. There, she rebuilt her career at Homoelectric, Homobloc, Warehouse Project, Parklife, Glastonbury, and Glitterbox.

Awards, memory, and a radio that never stops

In November 2022, DJ Mag awarded her the Lifetime Achievement award. On February 18, 2023, she returned to the Essential Mix with two hours of house. In 2018, she had released the EP Sheroes with Chris Massey and curated the Homebird exhibition at The Lowry. In January 2024, Welcome to the Club: The Life and Lessons of a Black Woman DJ was released, with a foreword by Annie Mac. This was followed by the Keychange award, the NTIA Ambassadors of the Night award, the DJ of the Year award at the Northern Music Awards, and, in 2025, the presidency of The F-List For Music. She maintains programs on Reform Radio, Worldwide FM, and Global Residency, fills in on BBC 6 Music, and is currently booked by Warm Agency. Disco, house, and techno remain her language: narrative, vocal sets without easy nostalgia.