Jazzi P

Pauline Bennett, who also goes by the stage name of Jazzi P, is a British DJ, dance teacher and rapper from Wolverhampton.

She had a No. 6 hit as a featured artist on Kylie Minogue’s 1991 song “Shocked”, and also participated in Big Brother: Power Trip in 2014.

Jazzi has taught dance since the age of 11 creating a nightclub performing group at aged 14. Her rap career began with her dance group The Brutal Ladies in 1984 and was the first female hip hop/jazz DJ on a local pirate radio station, playing local clubs until she entered the DMC Rap Championships in 1988 and was spotted by Les Adams a.k.a. L.A. Mix. In 1989, she featured on L.A. Mix’s UK No. 25 hit “Get Loose”, which became a hit after L.A. Mix had been diagnosed by Stock, Aitken and Waterman as being “unlikely to score another hit” after their UK #6 hit “Check This Out”.

The following year, she had a solo hit with “Feel the Rhythm”, which charted at No. 51 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1991, Jazzi rapped on the DNA song “Rebel Woman”, which sampled David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel”.

Around the same time, DNA remixed Kylie Minogue’s “Shocked” and added a rap part written and performed by Jazzi. The DNA Remix of the song was then released as a single (it was not originally planned for release) and charted at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Minogue’s thirteenth consecutive top ten hit. Jazzi also performed the track on Top of the Pops.

Jazzi told Minogue that previously she thought the singer’s music was “shit”! What they failed to report was the remainder of the comment which was “…but since I’ve seen and heard you perform live, hip hop or no hip hop cred, I would pay to see you any day!”.

Many house tracks have used Jazzi’s a cappellas for remixes and in 1994 Chris & James sampled “Feel the Rhythm” for their UK No. 74 hit “Calm Down (Bass Keeps Pumpin’)”.

In 1991 after buying herself out of her record deal, she returned to teaching dance and building Wolverhampton’s first community dance studio, Sweatbox.