What's Next For Dee Barnes?

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Written By Walter Gainer II

What’s Next For Dee Barnes?

Hip Hop Journalist Dee Barnes has been in and apart of the news since the late 80’s. Just recently, her name resurfaced when news came that she was facing homelessness. Many, were shocked by this news having seen her leading the culture with a hit TV show, Grammy nomination, and working with some of the top artists in the world. Despite her accomplishments, Barnes felt the Hip Hop industry had blacklisted her following an incident in 1991 where it was reported that Dr. Dre viciously attacked her.

After the incident, Barnes had trouble finding work in the industry. Colleagues that she approached hinted that they could not work with her for fear of losing a deal they had with Dr. Dre.

On march 28th, Barnes took to Twitter to announce that after 28 years, she received a job offer in her desired field.

While it has not yet been revealed what type of job Barnes has received, it comes at a great relief to Barnes who had set up a GoFundMe to avoid being evicted. As Barnes begins to restart her career, we look to her past for clues as to where her new path may lead her. After scouring the web for something that could lead to the answer, we came up with three milestones in her career that may give us the answer.

1) Dee Barnes was the First Hip Hop Journalist to have a broadcast television show

Raised in Queens, New York,  Dee Barnes was the first female Hip Hop Journalist to have a broadcast television show. She was the host on Fox’s Hip Hop show “Pump It Up”. We give a lot of praise to new and current personalities like Angie Martinez, 'Charlegmane tha God’, Joe Budden, and Elliot Wilson, but Dee Barnes was interviewing artists on TV back in 1990.

Pump It Up launched on Fox in 1989 and allowed Barnes to have candid one on ones with the big name artists that have influenced today’s artists. She interviewed many artist, to name a few, Queen Latifah, Snoop Dogg, Will Smith, De La Soul, Ziggy Marley, Ice Cube, and many more.

In one of her biggest interviews, Barnes visited Ice Cube to speak to him about how he makes music, NWA’s, his rap group, message, and the state of Hip Hop. Barnes brought current events and issues to light that are still discussed to this day, such as placing Hip Hop as the cause of crime and poverty. In her interview with Ice Cube, Barnes brought up the media battle against NWA, “Every time the media wants to say something negative about rap, they always plaster NWA all over the place and use you guys as a tool for negativity. How do you feel about that?”

2) She Was Nominated For A Grammy

Before Barnes hosted Pump It Up, she was part of the Hip Hop group “Body and Soul”. The group joined a movement called “The West Coast All Stars”. This was a project that promoted peace in the community. The project produced the single “We’re All in the Same Gang” in 1990 that ended up as a contender for the 33rd annual Grammy Awards.

3) She Formed a Production Company

After Dee Barnes took a break from TV and Radio, she started a production company, Eastside Entertainment where she made music videos for some of the biggest artist in the game. Some of these artists include Snoop Dogg, Biggy, and Tupac. She has also starred as herself in TV series such as Rebels Without a Pause, Behind the Music, Sisters in the Name of Rap, and HBO’s The Defiant Ones.

So What’s Next For Dee Barnes?

Dee Barnes has had an impressive career and with her job offer remaining a mystery, the question arises, What’s Next For Dee Barnes? Will she pick up her music career and share her story through song? Will she get in front of the camera and get back to interviewing the biggest names in Hip Hop? Or will she continue her work behind the camera as a producer?

Only one thing is for certain. Dee has a strong following of supporters who will not let her fail. Barnes didn't just meet her $5,000 GoFundMe goal. Her supporters kept going and as of 6:48 am March 29th, she had raised $28,910. That's over $20,000 past her goal.

With a strong following like that, and a history of creating cultural moments, the possibilities are endless for Dee Barnes.

Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed hearing this untold story and would like to get more from BossLocks or learn more about us, subscribe below

Walter Gainer II
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