OP! has joined the ranks of the respected cadre of tastemakers and bootyshakers in the New York underground scene. Homegrown in Brooklyn, his path began there, but along the way has taken him halfway around the globe, from the US to Africa, and back again.
Growing up in the golden age of hip-hop, OP! first caught the dj bug from listening to Kool DJ Red Alert and Marley Marl on the radio, and dj battles on Ralph McDaniels’ seminal pre-MTV Video Music Box (little did he know that he would soon be working in both radio and television himself). In high school, a friend of a friend, a dj at a local college, took him under his wing, and soon OP! was djing on that college’s radio station… while still in high school. He went on to become the Hip-Hop Music Director there, and a major musical force on the campus.
After college, honored with a Watson Foundation Fellowship to research hip-hop and radio in South Africa, an opportunity to work at the first, and newly formed, commercial youth-oriented radio station there arose, and soon OP! was on a (long) flight to Johannesburg. YFM 99.2 exploded onto the scene (the station has well over 3 million listeners now) with OP! (formerly know as Absolut) eventually working on three ongoing shows, including his own mixshow, one of the first hip-hop mixshows in South Africa. After two years, having become a well-known and respected hip-hop dj there, OP! came home to Brooklyn.
He spent the next years cutting his teeth in the industry at TVT, 88 Hip Hop, and then Sub Verse, where he played a central role in the then emerging solo career of MF Doom, overseeing the re-release of KMD‘s shelved sophomore album, Black Bastards, and Doom’s groundbreaking first solo effort, Operation Doomsday.
OP!’s next move brought him to the position as Project Manager at Studio Distribution, handling labels like BBE, Sound-In-Color, Raw Fusion/Jugglin’, and Draft. He quickly made his mark there as being responsible for Hezekiah’s Hurry Up and Wait, Da Beatminerz Fully Loaded With Static, and the huge success of newcomer Foreign Exchange’s (Phonte of Little Brother and Netherlands producer Nicolay) Connected. OP! was also involved in other projects include albums from Alice Smith, Hugh Masekela, Freddie Cruger (aka Red Astaire), Masta Ace, Up Hygh, Hearin’ Aid, and J Dilla.
Currently, OP! is working with Cornerstone Promotions as the Urban Online Lifestyle Project Manager, responsible for the online marketing campaigns for major label artists including Outkast, Diddy, Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Ludacris, Sleepy Brown, Rhymefest, and a host of others.
With his feet firmly planted in the industry, OP! turned his attention back to the turntables. This move has seen OP! spinning at such notable events as Rich Medina’s Connect the Dots Loft Party, the RMFRP event at WMC 2005 in Miami, the RMFRP event in NYC, the Black August Building Sessions, and the Escape 2 Brooklyn parties. OP! has also spun at venues like Triple Crown, Joe’s Pub, Table 50, Halcyon, APT, Canal Room, Aura, Moe’s Bar, Sputnik, Afrokinetic/718 Dinner, The Vault @ Element, and the Knitting Factory in the company of DJ Spinna, Blu Jemz, Ge-ology, Waajeed, Bobbito, Peanut Butter Wolf, Language, 9th Wonder, ?uestlove, DJ Junior, DJ Center, DJ Chris Annibell, DJ Statik, Keb Darge, Kool Dj Red Alert, Large Professor, and Wax Poetics’ Monkone. As well, OP! with his long time DJ partner Scribe started a monthly new music salon event (co-sponsored by BBE, K7, and Raw Fusion/Jugglin’) called Nu-iSh (www.nu-ish.com), focused on exposing new, exclusive, and current but soulful music to the masses.
And on the live side, OP! has shared the stage with legends like The Roots, De La Soul, Poor Righteous Teachers, Executioners, and Hieroglyphics, and future legends from Alice Smith to Tortured Soul.
DOWNLOAD SUITE 903 No. 14 MIXED BY OP!:
SUITE 903 No.14 (DOWNLOAD LINK)
Champion Sound! w/ DJs OP! and Sam Champion @ Soda Bar
Champion Sound brings the classic Brooklyn party vibe to Prospect Heights. Dancing, soulful music, beautiful people... DJs OP! and Sam Champion rock every other Saturday. Just blocks from the Brooklyn Museum.
Event Information: Every 1st & 3rd Saturday 10:00 PM - 4:00 AM 21+ cover: FREE music: Hip Hop, Classics, Soul, Funk, House, Afro-Beat, etc.
Venue Information: Soda Bar 629 Vanderbilt Ave. Prospect Heights | b/w Prospect Pl. & St. Marks Ave. 2, 3 at Grand Army Plz Brooklyn, NY (718 230-8393)
OP! @ Donuts Are Forever 2 (Thank You Jay Dee)
OP! @ Kissey Asplund Birthday Party - Courtesy of Vimby
.. VIMBY - Kissey Asplund's B-Day Party
