Ogopa Deejays are a

Kenyan The Demographics of Kenya is monitored by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in East Africa. Its total population was at 47,558,296 as of the 2019 census. A national census was conducted in 1999, although t ...

music production A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

team and

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

formed in the late 1990s who gained regional fame and popularity due to standards of their production work.

Background

Ogopa DJs is led by brothers Francis and Lucas Bikedo, along with their manager, Banda. They rarely show their faces in public and do not agree to have their photos taken or published by the Kenyan media. The team started out producing hit songs for artists such as

Bebe Cool Bebe Cool (formerly Bebe Bunton, real name Moses Ssali; born 1 September 1977) is a Ugandan reggae and ragga musician. He started his career around 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya, but later moved back to Uganda. Cool was one of the first artists affili ...

Chameleone Joseph Mayanja (born 30 April 1979), better known by the stage name Jose Chameleone, is a Ugandan AfroBeat artist and musician. He sings in Luganda, English, and Swahili. Early life and education Joseph Mayanja was born on 30 April 1979 to ...

and Redsan. They are widely acclaimed to have helped boost the Kenyan urban music scene from obscurity. They are also credited with creating the Boomba (sometimes referred to as Kapuka) style of Kenyan music which is modern

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

influenced by African drums and rhythms. They later formed Ogopa Productions, which also organizes events. They revolutionised Kenyan music in the early 2000s. They have released three compilation albums and several albums by their artists. Their first album was released in 2001 and was widely popular in East Africa. It also introduced fans to the talents of the late

E-Sir Issah Mmari Wangui (May 20, 1981 – March 16, 2003), better known by his stage name E-Sir, was a Kenyan hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American ...

and K-Rupt. They are famous for their logo of a red face screaming. A music producer from Virginia, United States, gave the group a chance to showcase their musical talent in 2003. Tickets sold out in three hours, a record time for this group. Ultimately the show was a huge success and the group planned to start a world tour in 2013. Their studios are located in South B estate of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. They have also started a sister label operating in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, known as Ogopa Butterfly. They have produced for

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

based girl duo, Gal Level, and Kenyan-Namibian musician Faizel MC. In 2018, Ogopa Deejays and

Calif Records Calif Records is a Kenyan record label based in Nairobi's California estate, known for the Genge genre of music. It was founded in 2000 by record executive & producer Clement "Clemo" Rapudo, together with Juacali and Nonini. It is among two ...

co-hosted the Ngoma Festival at Uhuru Gardens.Ogopa Deejays vs Calif Records showdown flops big time
''Nairobi News'', October 28, 2018.

Signed artists

Artists who have been signed to Ogopa Deejays label for at least part of their career (artists who have occasionally recorded with Ogopa are excluded) include:

Current acts

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

* Amani * Colonel Mustafa *

Marya The Marya are a tribe in western Eritrea. They are mostly shepherds and farmers they inhabit the middle valley of the Anseba River in the Keren District. There split into two clans: the Marya qeyih and the marya tselam. They are related to the Me ...

* Kenzo *

Silas Silas or Silvanus (; Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey. Name and ...

* Trapee * Gal Level *

Boomba Boiz The bladder fiddle was a folk instrument used throughout Europe and in the Americas. The instrument was originally a simple large stringed fiddle (a musical bow) made with a long stick, one or more thick gut strings, and a pig's-bladder resonato ...

Rapper willyjay Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing be ...

*Hearts Prince Brown Jr (EsirEaly)

Former artists

Avril Avril means April in French and other languages. It may also refer to: Places * Mont Avril, a mountain on the Swiss-Italian border * Avril, Meurthe-et-Moselle, a commune of the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France People * Avril (name) * ...

* Big Pin *

* Nameless *

Deux Vultures Deux Vultures is a musical group in Kenya performing hip hop and pop music. The group consists of two members: Colonel Mustapha (real name Daudi Mustapha) and Nasty Thomas (Thomas Konzanga). They grew up in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Like many other ...

Kleptomaniax Kleptomaniax is a rap group from Nairobi, Kenya. The group consists of three members: Roba (Robert Manyasa), Collo (Collins Majale) and Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu). Kleptomaniax were formed in 1999, when they were still high school students at t ...

*K-rupt *

Longombas Lovy and Christian Longombas were a duo from Kenya who performed a mixture of Hip hop and Soukous. Christian Longomba was diagnosed with a brain tumor in May 2015, and underwent surgery to have it removed. He later required a second surgery due to ...

* Mr. Googz &

Vinnie Banton Vinny or Vinnie is a masculine given name, usually a shortened version of Vincent, Vincenzo, or Vicente, which may refer to: Vincents * Vinnie Anderson (born 1979), New Zealand rugby league footballer * Vinny Appice (born 1957), American rock dr ...

* Mr. Lenny & Kunguru * Redsan * Tattuu *

Wahu Rosemary Wahu Kagwi, professionally known by her mononym Wahu, is a Kenyan singer-songwriter, former fashion model, actress, and entrepreneur. Early life and education Wahu attended Hospital Hill Primary School and proceeded to Precious Blood ...

References

External links