View source for DJ Spinderella

{{Short description|American DJ and rapper (born 1970)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = DJ Spinderella
| image              = DJ Spinderella 2011 (cropped).jpg
| image_upright      = 
| caption            = DJ Spinderella in 2011
| alias              = {{hlist|Dee Dee Roper|DJ Spin|Spin|Spiny}}
| birth_name         = Deidra Muriel Roper
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1970|8|3}}
| birth_place        = [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date         = <!-- don't add without a reliable source -->
| death_place        = <!-- don't add without a reliable source -->
| occupation         = {{Flat list|
*DJ
*producer
*rapper
}}
| children           = 1
| spouse             = {{marriage|Quenton Coleman|2021}}
| education          = 
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist
| embed           = yes
| instrument      = {{hlist|Vocals|turntables}}
| genre           = {{Flat list|
*[[Hip hop music|Hip hop]]
*[[Dance music|dance]]
*[[Pop music|pop]]
}}
| years_active    = 1986–present
| label           = {{hlist|[[Next Plateau Records|Next Plateau]]|[[London Records|London]]|[[PolyGram]]|Red Ant}}
| associated_acts = {{hlist|[[Salt-N-Pepa]]|[[Roxanne Shante]]|[[MC Lyte]]|[[Run–D.M.C.]]|[[Kid N Play]]}}
| past_member_of = [[Salt-N-Pepa]]
| website         = 
}}
}}
'''Deidra Muriel Roper''' (born August 3, 1970), known professionally as '''DJ Spinderella''' or simply '''Spinderella''', is an American DJ, rapper and producer. She is best known as a member of the hip-hop group [[Salt-N-Pepa]]. Roper occasionally appeared in ''[[The Salt-n-Pepa Show]]'', a reality TV series focusing on reforming the group, which aired on the [[VH1]] network in 2008.

== Early life ==
Deidra Muriel Roper was born August 3, 1970,<ref name=DR>{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg0tgldNatd/|title=Chapter52 🙌🏽💃🏽♌️♥️|last=Roper|first= DJ Spinderella|website=Instagram.com|access-date=August 6, 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>[http://blackhistorydaily.com/black_history/dj_spinderella.html Black History Daily – DJ Spinderella – August 3, 1970]</ref><ref name=NBI>[https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2015.132.311 National Museum of African American History and Culture – Photographic print of Salt-N-Pepa outside Bayside Studios]</ref>{{efn|Other sources state 1971.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/people/deidra-dee-dee-roper-21265117 |title=Biography – Deidra "Dee-Dee" Roper – (1971–) |access-date=July 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728114929/https://www.biography.com/people/deidra-dee-dee-roper-21265117 |archive-date=July 28, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=HipHopCulture>Price, Emmet George (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q84TiHcqDqcC&dq=spinderella+august+3%2C+1971&pg=PA185 ''Hip Hop Culture'']. ABC-CLIO.</ref>}} and raised in [[Brooklyn]], New York City, as one of five children. Her early influence in music began as a child, fascinated by her father's record collection growing up. Roper began her career as a DJ at age 14. During her sophomore year in high school, she began dating a local DJ who she learned DJ techniques from. Shortly thereafter, she began marketing herself as a DJ in the area around Brooklyn. At age 16, Roper was approached in school by a classmate who asked her would she be interested in joining an all-female rap group. The classmate knew [[Hurby Azor|Hurby "LuvBug" Azor]], the producer of the group, and arranged for Roper to audition for him.

== Career ==
Roper was introduced to Salt-N-Pepa producer [[Hurby Azor]] just before the group was due to appear at the Westchester Music Festival in 1986. The group's original DJ, [[Latoya Hanson]], had missed several rehearsals and group appearances, and the group was looking for a replacement.<ref>Khary Kimani Turner (December 2007). "The Tables Turn". ''Source Magazine'', p 28.</ref> Future radio and TV personality [[Wendy Williams]] had also auditioned as the DJ.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg6F4OaPj3E| title= Wendy Spinderella?| work = The Wendy Williams Show| date = January 6, 2012| access-date = August 13, 2014}}</ref> Roper was selected as the group's DJ by Azor (taking the name Spinderella) around the time the group's first album was being released. Since she was 16 at the time of joining, her parents had to give permission for her to travel around the country. The trio became one of the most successful female hip-hop acts of all time. They released five studio albums and saw several [[Platinum Single|platinum]] and [[gold single]]s, with Spinderella producing several songs on the group's albums as well. In 1992, Spinderella appeared in the film ''[[Stay Tuned (film)|Stay Tuned]]''. In 1993, she was featured as a rapper on [[Big Daddy Kane]]'s album ''[[Looks Like a Job For...]]'' on the second single, "[[Very Special (song)|Very Special]]", which would go on to become Big Daddy Kane's only top 40 hit. In 1996, Spinderella appeared in the film ''[[Kazaam]]'', which starred [[Shaquille O'Neal]]. She opened her own beauty salon on October 21, 1997, the same day that Salt-N-Pepa released their final album ''[[Brand New (Salt-n-Pepa album)|Brand New]]''. After this album, Spinderella made plans to release a solo album, which never materialized as Red Ant, the group's record label, ceased operations. Salt-N-Pepa disbanded in 2002, and reformed in 2007, eventually firing Spinderella in 2019.

From 2003 to 2006, Spinderella worked as a radio personality on the now-defunct [[KKLQ (FM)|KKBT 100.3]] in Los Angeles, co-hosting ''The BackSpin'', a nationally syndicated weekly radio show featuring [[old school hip-hop]]. She appeared in several episodes of the VH1 series ''[[The Salt N Pepa Show]]''. From September 2010 to March 2011, she did mid-days at KSOC-94.5 "K-Soul" in Dallas, Texas. Spinderella is part of the [[American Diabetes Association]] Celebrity Cabinet, a TV ONE UnSung Ambassador, supporter of Saving Our Daughters Mentoring Program, and founder of the Spinderella DJ Academy. She appeared briefly on VH1's first annual ''[[Hip Hop Honors]]'' in November 2004, with her group members, but they did not perform. All three members performed on the second ''Hip Hop Honors'' on September 22, 2005. This was the trio's first performance as Salt-N-Pepa since 1999. In 2007, she acted as DJ for [[The Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav]]. In October 2008, the group performed their hit singles "Shoop", "[[Push It (Salt-n-Pepa song)|Push It]]", and "[[Whatta Man]]" at the 2008 [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]] Hip Hop Awards. When the group appeared on ''The Wendy Williams Show'' to perform "Push It" on December 18, 2015, host Wendy Williams tried her hand at DJ'ing before Spinderella came out to continue in the role. On May 3, 2019, Spinderella announced in an Instagram post that she had been "terminated" from Salt-N-Pepa as of January 2019, and had broken her silence after the band hadn't made a public announcement regarding their parting of ways.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebony.com/entertainment/dj-spinderella-announces-termination-from-salt-n-pepa/|title=DJ Spinderella Announces 'Termination' From Salt-N-Pepa|last=Washington|first=Jasmine|date=May 3, 2019|website=Ebony|access-date=May 3, 2019}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
In 1992, Roper had her first and only child, a daughter named Christy, with [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] player [[Kenny Anderson (basketball)|Kenny Anderson]].<ref name=EW1994>Staff. [https://ew.com/article/1994/03/18/salt-n-pepa-spice-things/ "SHAKER HEIGHTS: THEY'RE RAP'S TOP WOMEN, BUT ARE SALT 'N' PEPA TOO SEXY FOR THEIR OWN GOOD?"], ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'', March 18, 1994. Accessed June 6, 2009. "The group's self-described little sister, Roper lives in Teaneck, N.J., with Christenese, 1, the child she had with ex-boyfriend Kenny Anderson of the New Jersey Nets."</ref> Christy later appeared on an episode of ''[[My Super Sweet 16]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Quilantan |first=Vanessa |url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/salt-n-pepa-are-coming-back-but-dallas-dj-spinderella-isnt-going-anywhere-7071871 |title=Salt-N-Pepa Are Coming Back, but Dallas' DJ Spinderella Isn't Going Anywhere |publisher=Dallas Observer |date=June 26, 2014 |access-date=July 28, 2017}}</ref> In May 2021, Roper married her long time boyfriend, Quenton "Q" Coleman, who is a comedian.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jeune |first=Diamond|url=https://atlantablackstar.com/2021/05/25/congratulations-dj-spinderella-gets-married-weeks-after-verzuz-battle/|title='Gorgeous Bride': DJ Spinderella Gets Married to Longtime Love Quenton Coleman Weeks After 'Verzuz' Battle|publisher=Atlanta Black Star|date=May 25, 2021|access-date=September 15, 2021}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb name|id=0740583}}
*[http://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/dj-spinderella DJ Spinderella Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Collection]] (2017)

{{Salt-n-Pepa}}
{{2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinderella, DJ}}
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:American hip-hop DJs]]
[[Category:American hip-hop musicians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American women DJs]]
[[Category:Musicians from Teaneck, New Jersey]]
[[Category:20th-century American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American women musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American women musicians]]
[[Category:African-American women musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]