The Sequence’s Gwendolyn “Blondy” Chisolm Dead At 66

Gwendolyn “Blondy” Chisolm, a member of the extremely early all-female rap trio the Sequence, has passed away. Billboard reports that Chisolm died in Atlanta on Monday after a brief illness. She was 66. Her death follows that of Angie Stone, the former Sequence member who rapped as Angie B long before becoming a star in the late-'90s neo-soul wave, and that leaves Cheryl "The Pearl" Cook as the sole surviving member of the Sequence.

The Sequence were almost certainly the first all-female rap group, and there's a very good chance that they were the first Southern rap group, too. All three members of the group were childhood friends who grew up together in public housing in Columbia, South Carolina. In 1979, they went to a Sugarhill Gang concert, made their way backstage, and auditioned for Sugar Hill Records CEO Sylvia Robinson. Robinson signed them and produced their debut single "Funk You Up." It came out in December 1979 as the second 12" single on Sugar Hill after "Rapper's Delight."

"Funk You Up," a top-20 hit on the Billboard R&B chart, is an absolutely delightful blast of disco-rap silliness. Backed up by Sugar Hill's storied studio band, the three women traded sly boasts and harmonized on the hypnotic "ring-ding-dong" chorus. Blondy was rapping on record more than a year before that other Blondie. Over the years, "Funk You Up" has been sampled dozens of times, most famously on Dr. Dre's 1995 hit "Keep Their Heads Ringin'."

The Sequence released their debut album Sugar Hill Presents The Sequence in 1980, when very few full-length rap LPs were on the market. Over the next few years, the Sequence released a string of singles, including two minor R&B chart hits, and two more albums. They also sang backup on records from other Sugar Hill albums and collaborated with early rap star Spoonie Gee on the 1980 single "Monster Jam," another one that I get stuck in my head all the time. Amid a royalty dispute with Sylvia Robinson, they broke up in 1985. Members of the group reunited onstage and on record a few times over the years. In her later years, Chisolm lived in Atlanta and worked in Black music preservation. Below, check out some of her music.