Dee Barnes facts for kids

Denise "Dee" Barnes (stage names Sista D and D Zire) is an American rapper and former Fox television personality who performed in the West Coast hip hop female duo Body & Soul and hosted a radio show on KDAY, prior to gaining wider fame as the host of Fox's hip hop show Pump It Up!, a weekly FOX TV rap music series on air from 1989-1992, according to IMDb.

Biography

Barnes grew up in New York City and became interested in hip-hop after hearing older children practicing in the park and attending concerts at the local roller rink, including a performance by Davy D. She began working in radio as an intern for The DJ Red Alert show on 98.7 Kiss FM; after graduating from high school, Barnes moved to Los Angeles in the late 1980s and joined Greg Mack on 1580 KDAY.

She formed the duo Body & Soul with her friend Rose Hutchinson (aka Rose Almight-T) in Los Angeles; the group's 1989 debut single "Dance to the Drummer's Beat", released on Los Angeles-based record label Delicious Vinyl, heavily sampled the Herman Kelly and Life song of the same name. Its b-side, "Hi-Powered", was produced by Def Jef. The same year, Body & Soul released "We Can Do This", also produced by Def Jef, on the label showcase This Is Delicious – Eat to the Beat. The duo also appear on the 1990 soundtrack of Marked for Death with "Ya Get's None". Body & Soul's greatest recording would apparently be their last; they recorded the 1990 posse cut "We're All in the Same Gang" as part of the Dr. Dre-produced West Coast Rap All-Stars, which earned that group a Grammy Award nomination.

Also in 1989, at the age of 19, she was hired to host Pump It Up! for the new Fox television network, a show where she interviewed artists which she described as having a guerilla style. At the time she was seeking a record deal, she also was attending journalism school. Barnes later said she felt a responsibility to document the developing history of rap and hip-hop. The show ended in 1991.

On February 14, 1991, Barnes co-hosted The Motherlode with Fab 5 Freddy; it was a concert at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, the first to feature an all-woman rap revue. That fall, Barnes hosted the hip-hop special Sisters in the Name of Rap, a revue of live performances taped at The Ritz in New York on October 8, 1991, which aired on pay-per-view, then was released as a 75-minute VHS tape by PolyGram in 1992. The show also featured an all-female line up including the artists Queen Latifah and MC Lyte.

In March 2019, it was reported that Barnes was facing financial difficulties and was "officially homeless". She stated on the Wendy Williams show on April 18, 2019, that she had raised $25,000 from a GoFundMe account.