We did not Chelsea this coming.
A former United States Army soldier, Chelsea Manning was famously convicted in 2013 for a myriad of offenses, including violations of the Espionage Act, after leaking nearly 750,000 classified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. She served seven years in prison, from 2010 to 2017, after her sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama.
After her release from prison in 2017, Manning, a former DJ, made her living through various speaking engagements. And after teasing a return to music earlier this summer, it appears she has dusted off her turntables and updated her Rekordbox library.
Manning recently performed at a rave in Brooklyn, throwing down a DJ set at Elsewhere after a hiatus of over 15 years.
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Elsewhere was throwing a hyperpop club night called “sksksks” hosted by Brooklyn-based DJ David Chan, who performs under the moniker THELIMITDOESNOTEXIST (shoutout Mean Girls). According to sksksks, the event is “a safe space for queer and trans folk, especially those of color.”
Manning went on to share footage from the rave, where she performed mashups of pop tracks from Cardi B and Charli XCX with a blend of hyperpop and speed house.
“did my first dj set in over 15 years last weekend in brooklyn,” she wrote.