When I called and left a message for this Rock/Pop Diva I had no idea that she was the "showbiz" daughter of legendary Jazz Diva, Freda Payne of "Band of Gold" fame or was married to Eric Floyd, dancer-choreographer-actor-comedian and screenwriter of the musical comedy, "Eastside Story", which he also co-starred in with Latin superstar, Marc Anthony.

And let's not forget that she starred in my all time favourite movie, "Beat Street". But even more importantly this Diva is a young legend for she is a part of the world history of hip hop!

Then it clicked that I had seen her phenomenal headlining performance along with 20,000 other dazzled spectators last year at a Philly concert on the pier. She blazed the stage performing her personally penned songs that the crowd instantly knew such as her multi-platinum KLF hits like "3AM Eternal", "What Time Is Love?", "Last Train To Trancentral" and "All Bound For Mu Mu Land", along with her current smashes from her new debut `MultiPop' album project; "The Goddess is Here!" like "Love Like Mine", "Don't Leave Me This Way" and her sizzling Salsa number, "Clave', Conga, Bongo y Timbal".

These were just some of the hits that she and her audience bellowed out line for line, amongst and amid one physically fit dance troupe!

Wanda Dee was originally born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx, `The Boogie Down Bronx', according to her! She knew she wanted to perform before she could walk.

According to Wanda she would hold onto anything that she could to prop herself up on and wiggle, shimmy and shake in time with whatever music was playing, while trying to coo and sing in key.

Even as a toddler, she could recall that the aforementioned actions would always make others around her laugh and feel good; and that feeling became one that she both liked and longed for...the feeling to make others feel good! I asked her how on earth did she get the name Wanda Dee.

"Back in the day, when the very foundations of the Hip Hop culture were being laid, as I began to spin records in my early teens, a neighbourhood boy used to always yell out; "make way for Wanda Dee" when he'd see me leaving my building with my (milk) crate of records, on my way to spin. Finally, others began calling me that, and so it stuck and the rest is, as they say... Herstory!"

Being a Hip Hop DJ was a way for Wanda to get her foot in the door. Despite the fact that she had a mother who was in the industry and had several hit songs, Wanda wanted to enter the industry and break down doors her way. So after much dedication and hard work she finally got the break she was looking for on the hip hop movie, "Beat Street".

"I adored Grand Master Flash and his genius on the turntables which inspired me to practise at home and then eventually get out there and take a crack at it myself. I am grateful that I got a lucky break. Then my own skills on the wheels of steel came to the attention of The Godfather of Hip Hop himself, Afrika Bambaataa, who saw me, took me under his wing and gave me many an opportunity to spin before capacity audiences all over New York.

"He mentored me into the business, officially declaring and inducting me as The First Female in The Zulu Nation, which led to a personal audition before Harry Belafonte, who then in turn, cast me in his (now) classic urban musical; "Beat Street".

Everything else I've done in this business would stem from those aforementioned strokes of luck... but I'm a firm believer that "Luck is merely when opportunity meets preparation"! And hey, I was always prepared when opportunity knocked."

Speaking of luck, opportunity or just meant to be, Wanda recently did a remake of Prince's hit song "Controversy" which thanks to rapper friend Doug E. Fresh, she had the opportunity to perform live on stage in front of Prince. Prince was so moved that he invited her to go on tour with him this summer. So I asked her what was next on her agenda?

"I'm going to do what I do best! Perform around the world, promoting the defining album project of my brief life and career, as this album is truly a celebration of and for women.

"I'm a child molestation survivor... I'm a survivor of an alcoholic household (her father)... I'm a survivor of the all too often misogynistic world of Hip Hop and the music industry... and I've managed to remain drug free/alcohol free/smoke free/scandal free & stress free in a business that has eaten greater people than me for breakfast and spit them back up for lunch; while also staying true to myself, my marriage and my God.

"If that's not just cause for sharing my own celebration, jubilation, information, motivation, education, inspiration, determination and fascination; then I don't know what is."

She already has toured the world and feels connected to London but Australia is where she feels one with nature as well as the people.

"The first country I ever visited was England, on the heels of my appearance in "Beat Street". I was the first female Hip Hop DJ to tour the UK, and I was completely floored and humbled by the lines around the corner of the venues I played and their adulation for the way I spun records.

"Since then however, I've visited over 90 countries from The Netherlands to Australia to Russia, Canada, Mexico and even places as remote as Latvia. Again, I've been blessed to have been not only well received but invited back repeatedly.

"I'll never forget that in Estonia, some of the people (especially the children) had never seen a real live black person before, so when they came across me and my dancers in their streets, they would approach us with such awe and wonderment (like we had just walked off our spaceship), and then gently would ask to touch our skin. We humbly obliged... and when they did, they'd smile... I think they expected it to rub off, and when it didn't, they were just so tickled! And so were we."

Wanda Dee has had the good fortune to co-produce with the likes of Jazzy Jay, Mark "The 45" King, The KLF (Bill Drummond & Jim Cauty), and her longtime collaborator Eric Floyd. She has been seen in the mix with such celebrities as Danny Glover, Diahann Carroll, Harry Belafonte', Eartha Kitt, and close friends Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson and the lists goes on to TLC, The Fugees, Queen Latifah, Queen Pen etc.

As far as performers, she has been equally blessed to have recorded with the likes of Peggi Blu, Sharon Brown, Linda Clifford, Carol Douglas, Gerard Dure', The Emotions, Doug E. Fresh, Taana Gardner, D'Atra Hicks, Loleatta Holloway, Bobbi Humphrey, Freda Payne, Fonda Rae, Valerie Simpson, Alyson Williams & Carol Williams; all are on her current `MultiPop' solo album project, `The Goddess is Here". Wanda Dee links herself with the term goddess because she strongly feels that there is a goddess in every woman.

Here are excerpts from our interview:

"What was it like and where did you first hear your song played?

"The first time I've ever heard my song played anywhere was actually on television. After my burning performance shut down a black history month, all-star/celebrity concert program for upper-classmen at the infamous Eastside High School in Patterson, New Jersey (as depicted in the film "Lean On Me"), setting off the now renowned `Joe Clark Scandal'.

With the estimated $40 million dollars worth of publicity that ensued, you couldn't watch TV for a month and not hear my first rap hit ("To the Bone"). I was also asked to perform it on shows like Van Silk's groundbreaking pay-per-view TV special that garnered me the cover of USA Today as "the highlight of the entire telecast"; "Rapmania"! The only word to describe it would be; grateful! "

What inspires you to write new productive material?

"The love I have for God! Her love has healed & sealed me, paved & saved me, bolded & moulded me... and as long as I draw breath in this life, I will use my artistic gifts from Her to excite and ignite the hearts, minds, souls & dreams of those She blesses me to share my music & message with. After all, if one is not a part of the solutions, then they are (indeed) a part of the problems."

What advice do you have for aspiring performers?

"Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see, as we're in a business of illusions perpetuated by master illusionists! Learn to follow and be obedient to your heart, for that is where God speaks to all of us... it is our direct line and connection to Her... don't even trust your own thoughts, because they're too easily influenced by the world and the ways of man.

"I", "me" and "my" are the three most unimportant words in the English language. It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice! Thus, learn never to define yourself by the opinions of others! For at the end of your journey here, your life will not be judged by how much you reaped, but by how many positive seeds you've sown!"

One of Wanda Dee's greatest accomplishments is to now own her own record company, Goddess Empire Record Label (-aka- G.E.R.L.) in which she was able to release her own product. She started the label with her husband and partner Eric Floyd because she wanted to own her own masters rather than her masters owning her.

Major recording labels obtain 90 percent while the artist gets ten percent. In addition she wanted to use the label as a vehicle to launch her several diva friends who are also currently in need of record deals to continue their own careers.