Samson joined Le Tigre in 2000 when co-founder Sadie Benning left the band before the albumFeminist Sweepstakes was recorded. Samson had previously worked as the band's projectionist and slide show operator during live performances in support of their first record, Le Tigre. The self-proclaimed "underground electro-feminist performance artists" combined visuals, music and dance in their performances. Samson's contributions to Le Tigre include the song "Viz", which deals with her experiences as a member of a sexual minority, and "New Kicks," which contains excerpts of a protest that Samson recorded. Feminist Sweepstakes came out in 2001 and was released on Mr. Lady Records & Videos in North America and on Chicks On Speed Records in Europe. Le Tigre's final album, This Island, was Le Tigre's first on a major label. Ric Ocasek of the Cars produced one track, "Tell You Now". Samson and her Le Tigre bandmates Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman also produced the Christina Aguilera song "My Girls ft. Peaches", for Aguilera's album Bionic. In the second half of 2006 the band decided to take an extended break. In 2016, Le Tigre reunited to show support for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, releasing their first song in a decade entitled "I'm With Her".
JD Samson and MEN
In 2007 Samson and Fateman formed a new project, MEN, as a DJ, production, and remix team. After initial songwriting and outside remix work, Fateman took time off to have a child, and Samson recruited the members of their side band Hirsute, including Ladybug Transistor's Michael O'Neill and Ginger Brooks Takahashi, to perform live as MEN. Samson has said that their music speaks of "issues such as wartime economies, sexual compromise, and the demand for liberties through lyrical content and an inventive, high-energy stage show". In 2009 MEN self-released an EP called MEN that sold out following US tours with Peaches and Gossip. MEN also toured in the UK and Europe during this time. Their debut album Talk About Body was released on February 1, 2011 via Iamsound in the US and through Sony/Columbia in Europe. The album included singles for the songs "Who Am I To Feel So Free", "Off Our Backs", and "Credit Card Babies". In the spring of 2012 MEN changed their name to JD Samson & MEN and released an EP Next in April followed in September by the song "Let Me Out Or Let Me In" in support of the Russian feminist punk-rock collective Pussy Riot. JD Samson & MEN's second full-length album was titled Labor.
Other bands
Samson also has performed as a member of the band The New England Roses and as keyboard player of electro-punk artist Peaches' live band, The Herms, with Radio Sloan and Samantha Maloney.
Samson is a co-founder of the performance art group "Dykes Can Dance". In 2003, she released 'JD's Lesbian Calendar', a collaboration with photographer Cass Bird, which was followed up in 2006 with 'JD's Lesbian Utopia', a calendar documenting Samson's travels around the U.S. in an RV.
Samson wrote a widely quoted piece on the economics of being an artist for The Huffington Post in 2011. Titled "I Love My Job But It Made Me Poorer," the article examines the financial realities of a long-term career in music. In 2013 she began writing occasionally for Talkhouse.
