Deee-Lite was an American house and dance music group formed in New York City. The group's best-known single is "Groove Is in the Heart", which was released in 1990 from their debut studio album World Clique (1990), and was a top-ten hit in multiple countries. In December 2016, Billboard ranked them as the 55th most successful dance artists of all time. In 2018, the Netflix series Big Mouth released a Planned Parenthood- and Deee-Lite-themed episode—it is noteworthy Kier has been a longtime abortion rights advocate. History 1986-1989: Background and early history The band began in 1986 as a duo in New York City with Lady Miss Kier (born Kierin Magenta Kirby) primarily on vocals and Supa DJ Dmitry (born in Ukraine as Dmitry Brill) as the DJ, and then became a trio when Korean-Japanese Jungle DJ Towa Tei joined the group in 1988. Initially, Kier and Dmitry performed their songs monthly in numerous downtown NYC nightclubs from 1986 onwards. In 1987, Kier bought the Akai S900 sampler, which influenced their sound tremendously. She also bought a Casio FZ-series sampler, which was used almost exclusively on their first album. Indeed, sampling played such an important role that they named their production company "Sampladelic". From the band's inception, Kier designed the posters and club invites and was also the graphic designer for all three albums and 12" singles. The band played in both hip-hop and house clubs, and both gay and straight clubs, including Wigstock and opening for Native Tongue Movement's De La Soul and Jungle Brothers. As described in Rolling Stone, "they were drawing vivid, multiracial, pan-sexual crowds...". Part of the band's appeal was its inclusiveness, as noted by Mademoiselle magazine "as a group, they're a festival of individuality; as a band, they're a party anyone can attend". In these early years, their live shows garnered a steady following and attracted Towa Tei as a fan. Thereafter, Towa sent Kier and Dmitry a bedroom DJ tape he had made and they realised he, like them, also enjoyed a fusion of funk and techno. Towa and Dmitry began jointly programming the band's computer. Although Towa did not play any instruments, he was a record collector and added samples. They invited him to join the group in 1988 and together the three produced their first album. Kier wrote all the lyrics and melodies, and also asked Bootsy Collins to join in sessions. Dmitry