Moi Renée
Jamaican-born singer and performer (died 1997)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moi Renée (died 1997) was a Jamaican-born singer and performer active in New York City's underground queer nightlife scene in the early 1990s.[1][2] Renée released the 1992 dance single "Miss Honey", one of the earliest "bitch tracks", a subgenre of house music.[2][3] "Miss Honey" was later sampled by Beyoncé in her 2022 song "Pure/Honey".[4]
Moi Renée | |
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Moi Renée performing "Miss Honey" | |
| Background information | |
| Born | |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Died | 1997 |
| Genres | House music |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | Early 1990s–1997 |
| Labels |
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Early life
Renée was born in Jamaica.[1] As a child, he[a] was known as Sam.[6] He faced anti-gay harassment from a young age.[1]
In 1971, Renée and his family emigrated to the US, settling in Philadelphia, where he was known as Peanut.[1][6] In junior high school, he was physically and sexually assaulted.[1] His first crush, a classmate named Keith, was shot and killed by a relative.[1]
He moved to New York City in 1979,[1] where he became known as Renée.[6] His jobs included window designer at B. Dalton.[1] By the early 1990s, he was studying at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.[2][6]
Career
Renée was openly gay and visible in Flatbush, Brooklyn, a predominantly West Indian neighborhood: "If I feel like walking with a switch or behaving openly effeminate I do it... I feel proud to go out and be myself."[1]
Renée appeared on the cover of a 1993 Village Voice issue; the accompanying story described him as a "singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and comedian."[1] He became a regular performer on New York City's queer club circuit, appearing at venues including Better Days, Midtown 43, One Hot Spot, and Tracks.[2][6] Renée was the "reigning diva" of The Shelter, known for his camp late-night sets.[7][2]
His personal style blended designer labels like Calvin Klein and Emilio Pucci, colorful barrettes, and Rasta colors with do-it-yourself creations like outfits made from caution tape.[1][8] Renée performed in wigs and women's clothing, but rejected the drag queen label that later sources would apply to him: "I am not a drag queen."[1]
"Miss Honey"
In 1992, Renée released "Miss Honey", a spoken-word dance track produced by Franklin Fuentes. The 12-inch single was released on Project X Records in the United States, followed by a UK pressing on Slip 'n' Slide Records in 1993.[2][9] The track was widely played at gay clubs, tea dances, and balls.[2]
The single has been described as one of the earliest "bitch tracks", a subgenre of house music built on boastful, confrontational vocals, often used for solo showcasing and voguing at balls.[2][3][6] In February 1993, Billboard reviewed "Miss Honey" among a group of tracks with "a finger-snappin' female impersonator with talent for nasty 'bitch-talk'" which also included "Supermodel (You Better Work)" by RuPaul and "Get Her" by The Ride Committee Featuring Roxy.[10]
Renée appeared on Stonewall Place After Dark, a late-night talk show on the Gay Cable Network, where he was interviewed and performed the song.[2][5][6][11] He wore white lipstick, a towering green wig, and a black bodysuit by Douglas Says; two uninterested backup dancers flanked him onstage.[5][6][12][13] Writing in 2008, Village Voice columnist Michael Musto called the clip "a tiny piece of gay history" and described the track as having become "a cult classic."[13]
Death
Legacy
In 2003, house producers the Ride Committee released "Curtains for You (A Tribute to Moi Renée)" on Wave Music.[14]
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, "Miss Honey" was remixed and sampled by DJs, including Eats Everything, whose 2020 "Honey" used Renée's vocals.[2][15]
In 2022, Beyoncé sampled "Miss Honey" in "Pure/Honey" on her album Renaissance and credited Renée as a songwriter.[6] The Fader wrote that the sample "[ties] it all together at the end".[16] Beyoncé paid tribute to Renée's performance of "Miss Honey" in a montage of different looks from a visual teaser for the album.[17]
Renée is the subject of several collage works by mixed-media artist Beau McCall, which were exhibited at the Wallach Art Gallery and the Stonewall National Museum and Archives.[18][19][20]
Miss Honey: The Catsuit (2024), a short documentary directed by Brandon R. Nicholas, traces the creation of the bodysuit Renée wore on Stonewall Place After Dark. It premiered at the aGLIFF Film Festival in Austin, Texas.[5][21] Nicholas is developing a feature-length documentary about Renée.[8][21]
