After a year-long sabbatical during which he produced music in seclusion, rapper D-Jay will make his first public appearance at the Lifestyle Experience event at Acacia Park at Otjiwarongo next Saturday.
Born in Windhoek and raised in the United States, where he lived with his Namibian parents until he reached high school age, D-Jay made a name for himself as one of the coolest and most original rappers around.
Born Diogene Ochs, D-Jay caused quite a commotion when he hit the Namibian music scene like an active volcano.
“My interest in music was born in America, where I spent most of my teen years. We were first based in Nebraska before we moved to Iowa, where my love and interest for music just heated up,” he says.
“We started recording demos on cassettes. I was actually inspired by the likes of Bow Wow and Lil Wayne, who were young rappers in the United States. Seasoned stars like Snoop Dogg and LL Cool J also played a role.”
He says the poetry classes they had at school in the United States drastically shaped his songwriting skills.
“Returning to Namibia, where I resumed my high school, I was lucky that the hip-hop mania was just heating up, with young artists like Catty Catt, Kannibal and Jericho at the forefront of the hype,” explains D-Jay.
“By the time I became a prominent part of the Namibian hip-hop family, the genre also had additional gifted artists like Eclipse Spiegel and Kadeen ‘KK’ Kaoseb, who became big players in the local hip-hop industry.”
D-Jay, who was famously aligned with Gazza Music Productions (GMP) when he started to make inroads into the Namibian music scene, is now running his own music label, Champion Music.
The artist has grown into a heavyweight in the hip-hop genre, which is demonstrated by winning two consecutive Sanlam NBC Music Awards for best hip-hop – in 2008 for ‘Girl Like Mine’ and in 2009 for ‘Listen to Your Heart’.
The hip-hop star, who is currently riding on his most recent hit, ‘Rock With Me’, has released iconic hits over a career spanning over two decades, including studio albums like ‘Game Over’ and ‘The Gift and The Curse’.
He would go on to release four more albums, with his most recent one being ‘Champion’.
POETIC SURVIVOR
D-Jay, who survived a tragic car accident which took the lives of Eclipse and R&B star Roger Itembu in 2009, says the message in his songs is inspired by pain and love.
“People go through a lot of pain during their daily hustle. But unlike some who wouldn’t endure that, they just keep going,” the award-winning star says.
“People go through their daily lives with pain on their faces. I’ve grown up writing letters to girls. It was my thing to write beautiful letters to the girls. I attended poetry classes at Burke High School in the US.”
D-Jay says his first big gig came when he, together with Street Kidz, launched their respective albums under GMP.
He says it was a big gig and his label really went all out to invite some of South Africa’s big kwaito acts.
Zoo Park was packed to capacity as the late Brown Dash and DJ Cleo, under the moniker Bleksem, teamed up with the GMP crew to create an unforgettable night.
D-Jay says travelling with the GMP crew under Gazza made him feel like a true superstar.
However, his time with GMP was short-lived as he went on to join new kid on the block Izinyoka.
He later left for Antonio’s Done Deal label under which he released one album.
D-Jay is currently employed by the Namibia Training Authority and is based in Windhoek.
He says he is one of a few old-school hip-hop artists still standing.
“I’m turning 40 soon. There was a time when it was so difficult to work, but you can’t walk away from something you love.”
He mentions Jericho and Kannibal as the two Namibian artists who influenced his career locally.
The Windhoek-born music star strongly feels that Namibian musicians have the talent to make it beyond our borders.
“The talent is definitely there, and I bet you that within the next five to 10 years Namibia will have its first music millionaire,” he says.
“With more platforms opening for artists to sell their music internationally, our artists could soon live large if they stay focused.”
D-Jay’s advice to young artists is the following: “They say practice makes perfect. Put in your 10 000 hours rehearsing and perfecting your craft. In our game there is a lot of copying and pasting happening,” he says.
“We need a lot of originality, and our young must have their work cut out. Avoid artificial intelligence as much as possible and put in your own work. Ask for advice when you get stuck.”
