[10][11] Mark Picchiotti first rose to prominence in 1991 when he produced fellow Chicago artist LaTour's eponymous debut album, spawning the controversial Top 40 hit single “People Are Still Having Sex”.
[13] In 1994, using the alias Streetlife, Picchiotti first collaborated with gospel house singer Dana Divine on the song “Love Breakdown”, released on Tribal America Records.
[21] Regarding their collaboration, Palmer recounts, “As I did more performing, I began to sing commercials for radio and TV, and I came to the attention of Mark Picchiotti, a house music producer from Chicago and his music collaborator, Craig Snider, a jingle writer and producer.” She continues, “That’s how I got my break in dance music.”[7] In 1997, Picchiotti DJed the release party for Janet Jackson's album Velvet Rope at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA.
As a result, Picchiotti produced the 2000 club hit “Butterfly” (#14 on Billboard Dance), and he negotiated a deal which allowed him to commission an accompanying remix EP and release it under his Blueplate imprint as a limited run.
In 2004, while continuing to balance his roles as a DJ and remixer, Mark signed the Leeds-based act Jersey St. and produced their single “Love Will be Our Guide”,[32] released on Defected Records.
In 2009, Picchiotti accepted the request to be the official DJ for reality TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race Winner’s Tour, sponsored by Absolut Vodka.
[1][23] Mark signed season one winner Bebe Zahara Benet and produced three of her singles; “I’m The Sh*t”, “Cameroon”, and “Dirty Drums”, all of which were Blueplate releases.
[36][37] In 2013, Mark continued to remix releases from high-profile artists, including the Daft Punk single “Get Lucky” and Enriqué Iglasias’ “Turn The Night Up”, both reaching #1 on Billboard Dance.
[40] In addition, he worked with artist Javi Star (also known as Weezy, the coach of the Phoenix Suns Solar Squad) and his brother, Amani Jae, producing the R&B-influenced track “I Got You”, which was released on the storied Studio 54.