Gwendolyn
Chisolm

Gwendolyn “Blondy” Chisolm was a singer, songwriter, and trailblazing hip-hop pioneer best known as a co-founder of The Sequence, widely recognized as the first all-female hip-hop group signed to a major label. Alongside Cheryl “The Pearl” Cook and Angie Stone, she helped carve out space for women in a genre that was still finding its voice, and her rhymes and melodies became part of the foundation on which decades of hip-hop and R&B would be built.

Born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Gwendolyn grew up singing in her church choir and cheering alongside her future bandmates at C.A. Johnson High School. Those early call-and-response chants and harmonies would later echo through the group’s 1979 breakout single “Funk You Up” — a song that would go on to be interpolated by Dr. Dre on “Keep Their Heads Ringin’” and channeled into Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ global smash “Uptown Funk.”

After a chance audition in front of Sugar Hill Records’ Sylvia Robinson, The Sequence released three albums between 1980 and 1983 and toured the country, becoming icons of the early hip-hop era. In her later years, Gwendolyn devoted herself to preserving that legacy — mentoring young artists, producing shows, and speaking to college students about hip-hop’s cultural history.

Known to her family as “the star,” Gwendolyn is remembered as a passionate artist, a generous collaborator, and a voice for a generation. Her lyrics and melodies continue to bring joy to millions around the world.

“The world will remember her as a passionate artist and a voice for a generation.”