Ophlin ‘Muma Nancy’ Russel-Myers, who most of you will know as Sister Nancy was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 2/1/1962. With her Father being a pastor, she was brought up regularly singing in the Church. One of fifteen siblings and the younger Sister to one of Jamaica’s most sought-after dancehall reggae deejay’s, Brigadier Jerry. She was the first ever solo female dancehall deejay, the first ever female deejay to perform at Reggae Sunplash, as well as tour internationally and become an international role model for female artists, helping to show the way for many females to follow in her footsteps, becoming dancehall deejay’s themselves.
By her mid teens she was occasionally performing with the ‘Twelve Tribes of Israel Sound System’ (Jahlovemuzik), which was the same sound that her elder brother performed with. The first sound that she actually became a member of was ‘Challis Sound System’. After a short stint of working with this sound, she moved on to work with ‘Blackstar Sound System’, however, the ever evolving Sister Nancy soon became a member of the international system ‘Stereophonic Sound’ in 1978 alongside greats like General Echo and Madoo.
In her own words her “biggest influence” Brigadier Jerry was initially against the idea of her following in his foot steps and she used to have to sneak her way to the dances without her brother being aware. However, once her career started blooming, he couldn’t help but come around to the idea.
Her debut single ‘Papa Dean’ was produced by Winston Riley and was released on his label ‘Techniques’ in 1980. The track was a success and paved the way for her to release great tracks such as the 1980 ‘Ball A Roll’ released on ‘Hit Bound’ and her 1982 ‘Volcano’ collaboration with Yellowman ‘Jah Mek Us Fi A Purpose’. This string of hits lead up to the release of her debut LP ‘One Two’, which was also released in 1982 on ‘Techinques’. The album was full to the brim with great tracks, the most notable being ‘Bam Bam’.
Muma Nancy has released three albums to date and now lives in New Jersey, with her husband, daughter & mother. She works as an accountant, but still continues to perform and tour internationally to this day.