Nona Hendryx — Cassette

Intro

Nona Hendryx sounds like the future as imagined from a high-tech 1980s underground club. Her music is a high-octane collision of heavy metal guitar riffs, clinical synth-pop precision, and the raw, unbridled power of classic soul. It is music that feels physically large, occupying the room with a sense of urgency and intellectual weight that most pop stars of her era avoided.

What truly sets her apart is her refusal to be categorized. While her peers in the R&B world were leaning into smooth ballads, Hendryx was collaborating with Talking Heads and Material, bringing a jagged, avant-garde edge to the dance floor. Her vocal delivery is athletic and commanding, capable of cutting through dense layers of electronic percussion and distorted instrumentation with surgical accuracy.

Start with the 1983 album 'Nona' for the perfect entry point into her signature 'Transformation' sound. It captures that specific moment where high-concept art rock met the infectious energy of post-disco funk, creating a blueprint for the afrofuturist pop movements that would follow decades later.

Nona Bernis Hendryx (born October 9, 1944) is an American vocalist, record producer, songwriter, musician, and author. Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady Marmalade". In 1977, Hendryx released her self-titled debut solo album, a commercial failure that resulted in Hendryx being released from her recording contract. In the early 1980s, Hendryx sang with experimental funk group Material, achieving the hit "Busting Out". Material produced her second album, Nona (1983), containing the modest Top 30 R&B and Dance charts hit "Keep It Confidential". The album cut "Transformation" became a Hendryx signature song. In 1985, Hendryx wrote and recorded the Grammy nominated song "Rock This House" with Keith Richards from her fourth solo album The Heat (1985). Hendryx went on to record the theme for Moving Violations and "I Sweat (Going Through the Motions)", a commercial hit for Hendryx from the Jamie Lee Curtis film Perfect. She also took part in the Artists United Against Apartheid project with the international hit, "Sun City", from the album of the same title. Hendryx's 1987 single "Why Should I Cry?", from her fifth album became a Top 10 R&B chart hit. She recorded "Transparent" from the 1988 Eddie Murphy vehicle, Coming to America. Hendryx received an Emmy nomination as a composer of People: A Musical Celebration in 1996 for Outstanding Music and Lyrics. She has also appeared on the third season of The L Word. Her music has ranged from soul, funk, and R&B to hard rock, new wave, and new-age. She stated in an interview that her family's last name was originally spelled with an 'i' and that she is a distant cousin of guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

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