When CeCe Peniston belts the first triumphant note of “Finally” at this year’s Roots Picnic, she won’t just be reviving a hit — she’ll be reminding the crowd of the powerful legacy of Black women in house and dance music. Appearing alongside Crystal Waters for Rich Medina’s Black House set, Peniston and Waters will take the stage in righteous recognition of their impact on dance music’s golden era — an era shaped by Black women whose voices set dance floors on fire and gave joy a pulse.
Along with Martha Wash, Robin S., Ultra Naté, and (Soul II Soul lead singer) Caron Wheeler, Peniston and Waters are among the most important voices in house and dance music, though their influence has often been underrepresented in broader music history. At a time when music festivals are recalibrating who gets top billing, the inclusion of Peniston and Waters signals more than nostalgia — it represents a necessary shift in recognizing the women who shaped the soundtracks of liberation.
House music, like hip-hop, was born in Black and Latinx queer communities in the 1970s and 1980s and quickly spread across clubs and radios globally. Women have always been central to this evolution — as vocalists, DJs, producers and cultural icons. Yet, their stories are often minimized or framed through male-dominated narratives. Peniston’s “Finally” wasn’t just a chart-topper — it was a global smash that brought Black women’s joy to dance floors across the world. Crystal Waters gave social commentary a four-on-the-floor beat with “Gypsy Woman,” blending club euphoria with lyrical substance.
In 2025, these legacies don’t just live on — they reverberate through a new generation of artists who are remixing tradition and amplifying representation. Artists like UNIIQU3, Ash Lauryn, Bambii, DJ Holographic and TSHA are bridging global sounds with cultural pride and intention. And this year, one of those rising voices is SIBBY LIV, a Philly-based DJ, producer, and event curator making her Roots Picnic debut with her immersive series All Spice World Dance.
SIBBY LIV: Crafting New Memories on the Dance Floor
“Not only am I being a part of their history,” Sibby says of sharing the Roots Picnic lineup with Peniston and Waters, “but I’m also writing my own chapter in it.”
SIBBY LIV’s sets are sonic mosaics. She blends Afrobeats, amapiano, Jersey club, baile funk, soca, and house, pulling influence from her Bronx birth roots, Philly upbringing and Jamaican heritage. Her series, All Spice World Dance, has evolved from a local event into a summer movement that offers an inclusive, celebratory space for music lovers to dance, explore global sounds and feel connected.
“I want them to walk away full — filled up with memories of the set and experiencing something new,” she says of her upcoming set. “Pure excitement. They need to be hydrated because there’s going to be a lot of movement.”
That energy is by design. Sibby meticulously crafts her sets through feeling first, often describing the experience as out-of-body. “I don’t realize what I’m doing until after I hear it,” she says. “The combinations I come up with sometimes surprise me, but they make sense in the moment.”
She sees the DJ booth not just as a platform, but as something of a classroom for music discovery. “A DJ’s job is to put people on,” she says. “I think it’s important that I mix underground sounds with more popular or global sounds because I’m bringing awareness and also creating something new by mixing it. I do that on purpose, and to gauge the audience’s reaction to it. I love testing the waters… I’m one of those people to always break those barriers. One thing I’m not afraid to do is explore and share new sounds.”
“I create with feeling first. If it’s something that feels empty, I know others won’t feel it. Once I can feel it, then I can clean up whatever needs to be cleaned up.” – SIBBY LIV
Photo courtesy of SIBBY LIV.
A Sound That Transcends Genre
Sibby’s approach to DJing and producing goes beyond beat matching. As a self-described “versatile visionary,” she constructs soundscapes that connect cultures and generations. While her sets are spontaneous and spirited, her production work demands deeper intentionality. Her upcoming single, “Planet Sex,” is a Miami bass-inspired track that promotes safe sex and drops on National Sex Day (June 9).
“I create with feeling first,” Sibby says. “If it’s something that feels empty, I know others won’t feel it. Once I can feel it, then I can clean up whatever needs to be cleaned up.”
That emotional foundation shows up in her day-to-day work as the founder of Lemonade & Co., a Philly-based creative agency that helps artists execute big ideas. It also pulses through All Spice World Dance, which she says began as a “baby party” and has now blossomed into a full-scale celebration of diasporic rhythm. “I wanted to create a space where people could dance, explore world sounds, feel good, and see themselves.”
Carrying the Torch
SIBBY LIV’s performance at the Roots Picnic is more than a career milestone for her — it’s an affirmation of how far the culture has come and who it now belongs to. “I’m not creating for a trend,” she says. “I’m creating for people like me to feel seen, safe, and celebrated.”
Her presence on a bill with CeCe Peniston and Crystal Waters is a reminder that dance music isn’t just having a revival — it’s evolving in the hands of women who understand its roots and its radical possibilities.
When asked how she navigates challenges, Sibby’s answer is less about strategy and more about breath. “Breathing is very important to me,” she says. “I think it’s the most underrated thing.” Her rituals include meditation, prayer, and binaural beats – sounds she sometimes layers into her music for their centering, mind-clearing effect. “It’s hypnotizing,” she says. “I’m usually on the God frequency.” For Sibby, staying grounded is part of her sound design, ensuring every beat she shares with the world comes from a pace of intention.
Sibby also told Okayplayer her dream collaborator from this year’s Roots Picnic lineup is Kaytranada — dance music’s reigning king of groove, whose genre-fluid sets have redefined the sound of global dance floors. “His music is so groovy and my music is like – worldly, so I think our sounds together would be the ultimate dance floor [experience],” Sibby says. “It would be so crazy, a collab with me and Kaytranada. I just know it’d be out of this world.”
Sibby’s journey is part of a larger continuum – one where Black women have long created spaces for joy, resistance, and release on the dance floor. Whether through CeCe’s voice, Crystal’s storytelling or Sibby’s sets, the throughline is clear: this music doesn’t just move bodies, it moves culture forward.
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