DJ Rashida

Rashida Robinson (b. 17 July 1980, Los Angeles, California), active under her stage name DJ Rashida, is an American DJ best known for extensively collaborating with Prince and The New Power Generation between 2005 and 2013. She was a member of an underground funk band PlantLife and toured as an opening DJ act for many prolific musicians, including Kelis, Cee-Lo Green, Pharrell Williams, and Bruno Mars on his 24k Magic World Tour in 2017–18. DJ Rashida has performed at several international festivals, including Summer Sonic in Tokyo, Japan, Good Vibrations in Sydney, Australia, and Lollapalooza in Chicago, USA. She was the resident DJ on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" reality TV series and The Arsenio Hall Show revival in 2013–14. Robinson, who's been DJing since 1998, first met Prince after performing at his Los Angeles residence at 3121 Antelo Road (rented from Barbi Benton, where the artist recorded the 3121 album and hosted numerous parties). He subsequently invited DJ Rashida to collaborate, and she began performing as a warm-up act and occasional guest with the NPG. In January 2006, Rashida starred with dancer Celestina Aladekoba in the Black Sweat promo directed by Sanaa Hamri (the second-ever black & white music video since Girls & Boys). A few months later, Prince and DJ Rashida recorded a demo 3121 Radio show for Sirius Satellite Radio. Similar to previous projects, like the 1989 New Power Generation Radio Show on KMOJ in Minneapolis, DJ Tora Tora's WNPG Radio Show on BBC Radio 1 in April 1995, and NPG Ahdio Show in 2001–02, the pre-recorded mixtape featured music from Prince and his associates, tracks picked by Rashida, and humorous skits with Katt Williams. (The 3121 Radio was unreleased until May 2020 and posthumously aired on Sirius XM.) DJ Rashida accompanied Prince on a few tours, including Támar Live in 2006 with Támar Davis, one-off shows in California during Prince's "21 Nite Stand" in May 2011 (a second leg of his Welcome 2 America Tour), and the following tours, Welcome 2 Canada and Welcome 2 Australia. She also participated in several TV broadcast performances, such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the 6th annual BET Awards in July 2006, and "Lopez Tonight" with George Lopez in April 2011. One of her last notable appearances with Prince was on 19 January 2013 at Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant; the show was billed as a DJ set by Rashida and Prince, but he ended up backing Robinson with keyboards and live vocals, alongside drummer Hannah Ford.