‘You Have to Fight the Fight’: Inside Femme House’s Miami Music Week Takeover

Amid a characteristically packed schedule of events at Miami Music Week 2025, Femme House continued carving out a place for itself and the many artists and industry folks who align with its mission to make the dance world a more inclusive place through education, music, camaraderie and community building.

Founded by Hermixalot and LP Giobbi in 2018, the nonprofit — which works to create opportunities for women, gender-expansive, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ creatives — hosted a series of events during the annual dance industry gathering, which took over Miami from March 26-31.

On March 27, the organization hosted the first ever Femmy Awards, an afternoon gathering at Palm TRee Club that honored some of the dance world’s most essential female pioneers — DJ Minx, DJ Lady D, Crystal Waters and Barbara Tucker, shining a light on the Black, female creators who helped forge the dance scene in its early days and who’ve been consistent presences in the decades since.

The awards, a festive occasion that elicited a lot of cheering and also some tears as award winners were announced on the the packed patio, also honored many other women and allies, with beloved party brand and label HE.SHE.THEY winning for best record label, Lightning in a Bottle winning for most diverse festival and The Martinez Brothers appearing to accept the Ally Award, among many other winners. See exclusive photos from The Femmy Awards below.

British producer TSHA won the best producer of the year, with her speech acknowledging “all the DJs who’ve put me on their lineups… I saw the Martinez [Brothers] are here…they’ve always put me on their lineups — and not as the warmup DJ, which is what happens a lot. I usually get stuck as the warmup, but they haven’t done that, so thanks guys. And to all my fellow producers, singers, DJs and my girls here, you guys are amazing, this award means the world to me and I will continue to support you, too.”

While accepting her award for producer of the year, techno star Sara Landry shouted out fellow techno queen Nicole Moudaber, who was also at the ceremony, calling her “one of the original pioneers of techno in this space, an original glass ceiling breaker; I would not be where I am without you, thank you Nicole.” Landry also acknowledged fellow techno producers Amelie Lens and Charlotte de Witte, saying their “fearlessness has made it so much easier for me, and your community and sisterhood have lifted my spirits even when I’m feeling like absolutely dogs… It’s a joy and a pleasure to go backstage and to see your spaces and be welcomed in loving and open arms.”

Landry also acknowledged the pioneers in the room, acknowledging the “women who went through what I’m going through now, before these spaces existed to honor them for the work that they do. We have all have had some very difficult times; it’s hard to be the only woman in the room, and the sisterhood and the camaraderie I’ve gotten from the incredible women in this industry, whose kindness and acceptance and willingness to welcome me into this space when I was a f—ing nobody from Austin, Texas, y’all have made such a difference to me… I solemnly swear to pay it forward and continue to do that.” See the complete winners list here.

Beyond The Femmys, Femme House’s Miami Music Week programming a showcase for LP Giobbi’s Yes Yes Yes label, with DJ Minx headlining the event and the party going until 5 a.m. on Friday morning. Despite this late night, Hermixalot (the artist born Lauren Spaulding) and Giobbi were back in action by Friday mid-morning, first hosting a brunch for friends of Femme House and then a panel discussion featuring DJ Lady D, Crystal Waters and Kaleena Zanders, three Black female dance music vocalists who spoke to the injustices Black female singers have faced within the dance world, which has historically profited from the voices of Black women without providing proper acknowledgement and fair compensation.

“The reason I curated this panel in this way is because these are the voices, literally,” Hermixalot said while moderating the event. “These are the artists literally, this is the culture literally. I wanted to give them a chance to call all you industry folks in and tell you how to do it and how to do right by them, because they’ve earned that right. This is about creating equity, impact and longevity. These women are the personification of those ideas, and I think it’s important that we listen to them and that we honor what they have to say and that we act on it appropriately.”

Speaking from decades of experience, Chicago house icon DJ Lady D advised that it’s necessary for any curator with a platform to make space for the originators of dance music culture. “There are only a few pioneers of this movement left,” she advised, “and I think that festivals and places like that should be putting those people that are still here on stages. They should be intentional about that.”

Waters, meanwhile, stressed the importance of having a good lawyer to check contracts to make sure they’re benefitting singers. She noted that “there’s a lot of legal stuff that I don’t think a lot of people know or understand,” referring to how crucial it is for vocalists to be listed as featured artists on tracks in order to receive royalties. “Educate yourself, get an attorney, get that stuff straight, because there’s a lot of little pinpoints where you can protect yourself for years to come, especially with the AI coming in, you’re going to have to start thinking ahead.”

The house music star also noted the importance of just speaking up and standing your ground. “Men will tell you ‘no’ as a default,” Waters advised, “and if you just let it go, they’ll push you to the side, so you have to be persistent, you have to kind of be a b—h, but you don’t have to be a nasty one.”

Speaking as a younger voice of the dance world, Zanders said that given “how mistreated vocalists and Black women are in this industry, I felt a responsibility to stay in dance music, to fight the fight.” She continued that she has her own list of checks and balances when choosing collaborators, emphasizing that she tries to have the producers that reach out to her for a possible collaboration “see the human in me first, because they often don’t see that at all.”

Pragmatically, the conversation also focused on the importance of singers being listed as primary artists in the backend of DSPs (even if they’re listed as featured artists on the front-end of these platforms) to ensure maximum and accurate streaming revenue. Zanders advised that while you “might have to follow up 1,500 times” with DSPs to ensure these correct listings, “you have to fight the fight.”

Billboard is the official media sponsor of the 2025 Femmy Awards.