DJ Obi

Obinna Levi Ajuonuma (29 April 1985), professionally known as DJ Obi, is a Nigerian Disc Jockey (DJ) and the current Syndik8 Record's official DJ. He is currently among the top trending DJs in Africa and occupied the seventh place in the 2019 lists of "Top Best 10 DJs in Nigeria".[1] He won the 2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards in the category for "Best World DJ".[2]

DJ Obi
Born
Obinna Levi Ajuonuma

(1985-04-29) 29 April 1985
Lagos, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
EducationMedia, Broadcasting and Communications
Alma materWorcester State University, Massachusetts, USA
OccupationDisc Jockey
EmployerSyndik8 Records
Known forDJ-ing
Notable work
Guinness World Records for Longest Marathon Club DJing
Home townIdeato South, Imo State
Parent(s)Dr. Levi Chibuike Ajuonuma and Josephine Ajuonuma
Awards2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for "Best World DJ"

Ajuonuma finally attained global fame in 2016 when he, like few other Nigerian Guinness World Records holders in the entertainment industry,[3] became the first Nigerian DJ to broke the Guinness World Record for the Longest Marathon Club DJing.[4] In a stretch of ten days of non-stop marathon DJing at the "Sao Cafe" in Lagos-Nigeria, Ajuonuma started from "11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22nd" and ended at "11:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 2nd, 2016" to clock a total of "229 hours and 58 minutes" of DJ-ing to beat the previous 200 hours world record set in 2014 by the Polish Norbert Selmaj (aka DJ Norberto Loco) at the "Underground Temple Bar" in Dublin-Ireland.[5][6] He celebrated this milestone accomplishment by dropping Drake's single - the "Legend" immediately he crossed that world record threshold[7] and also ended the last day by playing Drake's "One Dance", which he revealed was influenced by his 'friend' and fellow countryman the Nigerian Wizkid who featured in it; and also the fact that the song was number one track in the world that put Nigeria in the world map and, that the song happened to be also among the list of songs already selected by an online betting site PaddyBett to be the last he may play.[8]

Ajuonuma also revealed that he received a lot of moral and emotional supports from different calibers of people including celebrities like Don Jazzy and his cousin DJ Big N who came to support him the first night;[5] as well as Olamide, Lil Kesh, Wizkid, Omawumi, MI and Phyno[9] and also from the Reggae legend late Ras Kimono as well as visits from school children including his former secondary school students who came to support him for a whole day.[8]

But despite obliterating the previous world record of 200 hours with his new record of almost 230 hours - the Guinness World Records has "failed" to officially accord Ajuonuma his earned "recognition".[10] BBC News reported at the time that the Guinness World Records was "officially reviewing the attempt and says the verdict could take a few weeks".[11] But in a tweet of May 8, 2017, the Guinness World Records said it was unfortunate that their "records team" hasn't yet confirmed "DJ Obi's attempt" but that they "welcome additional evidence and are in contact with him".[12] In one of his interviews, Ajuonuma claimed he followed the rules meticulously and stated that the Guinness World Records officials "couldn't come to Nigeria so they just set up cameras. We each had timers that had to match so they'd know I was on time".[8]

Ajuonuma's world record of '229 hours and 58 minutes' came short of his originally intended set target of 240 hours, which he was unable to reach due to "medical advisement".[5] His world record has also been broken firstly, by an American: Chauncey Graves (aka DJ Colossus) in 2017 with a new world record of over 240 hours;[13] and secondly, by the current title holder who is also a Nigerian: DJ Neo who has set a new world record of 336 hours in a stretch of 14-day marathon of club DJing.[10]

Since winning the Guinness World Records, Ajuonuma has become a global icon. He was nominated in 2016 for 'The Future Awards Africa Prize for Creative Professional',[14] but was beaten to it by the founder and CEO of Cregital: Evans Akanno who finally won that category.[15] In spite of his popularity and global celebrity status, Ajuonuma claimed in one of his interviews that he has been receiving unpleasant treatment from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria who consistently suspect that some of his disc jockey equipment are dangerous "weapons".[16]

Early

Ajuonuma is an Igbo from the town of Ideato South in Imo State, which is one of the five states in South East Nigeria. He was born in Lagos State to late Dr. Levi Chibuike Ajuonuma and his widow mother Josephine Ajuonuma, but was raised in the Eastern part of Nigeria.[17] He has seven siblings: 3 brothers and 4 sisters and is the only one bearing the same name as their father: Levi Ajuonuma (Jr). He had his early education in Nigeria and was later sent to the US by his parents to further his studies at the Worcester State University, Massachusetts. After losing his father in the ill-fated Dana Air plane crash in 2012, he continues to draw inspiration from him posthumously and claimed in an interview that the memory of his father kept him motivated each time he needed strength to keep him going during his world record 10-day back-to-back marathon DJ-ing.[8]

Career

Ajuonuma started his career in DJ-ing while still in College studying Media, Broadcasting and Communications at Boston, USA.[17] According to one of his interviews, Ajuonuma revealed that after one of his high school friends taught him the few basics about Djing that he went and bought his 'first set of decks' - a 'Numark Mixtrack II' with which he started off his professional DJing. While still a student at the Worcester State University, he was "playing house parties and college parties, and later on started doing clubs" all around the East Coasts: New York, DC, Virginia and also went as far as London as well as going back to his native country Nigeria every Christmas to perform in booked club gigs.[8] After his studies and a brief residence in the US, he finally returned to Nigeria in 2012 to pursue full-time professional career as a Disc Jockey in the highly competitive Nigeria market. According to Ajuonuma, "In Nigeria the DJ market is very competitive, very cut-throat. I needed something that was going to set me apart from everybody else. I can't just talk about being a good DJ. I have to show it"[18]

Notable achievements and awards

Since becoming a professional DJ, Ajuonuma has collaborated and signed partnership deals with many global companies, such as Tag Heuer, Nike, Heineken, Jack Daniel's and Belvedere; and has also been working with many Nigerian and international big names and celebrities in the entertainment industry, such as Nigerian superstars: 2Face Idibia, Tiwa Savage, Lynxxx, Banky W, Naeto C, etc. and with International superstars: two-time Grammy Award: T-Pain, and rapper Lupe Fiasco. And was also the celebrity DJ chosen by the MOBO Awards to perform at their after-party event of over 1,000 VIPs that included Craig David, Fatman Scoop and Idris Elba; and was the chosen DJ too for the 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards in Durban, South Africa as well as DJ-ing for Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief charity gala in Cannes.[17]

Ajuonuma has also been boosting his DJ career by winning several awards, such as the 2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for the "Best World DJ"[2] as well as breaking the Guinness World Records for the longest DJ set in 2016, which made him an instant global DJ celebrity. He was also nominated in 2016 for 'The Future Awards Africa Prize for Creative Professional';[14] and was selected by Bold Magazine Africa to be their 2016 Christmas Edition cover page personality of the year with the caption "DJ Obi: Globally Acclaimed, Tried and Tested".[19] Ajuonuma (aka DJ Obi) has been trending among the top best DJs in Africa and was one of the Nigerian celebrities that made guest appearances in the first Afrobeat dance movie called 'The Dance Music Project' (TDMP), which was produced by Alexander 'Lexx' Ore of Lexxistalking Entertainment Film Studio.

gollark: Using it for evil would be mean, and thus impossible.
gollark: You should publish your SSH private key here, so that people can fix it.
gollark: They don't make them *that* lethally radioactive, and plutonium ones only require about 3 reactors to make.
gollark: You really only need a microcontroller and RTG on a pole. Possibly a battery.
gollark: I think they're for GPS, not relaying information.

References
  1. Correct, Harrison (7 October 2019). "The Best DJs In Nigeria". correctng.com. Correct Nigeria. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. "2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards Winners". African Vibes. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  3. Ochulo, Ujunwa (1 July 2016). "DJ Obi sets world record for the longest DJ set". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  4. Ikeru, Austine (11 November 2019). "10 Nigerians Who Are Guinness World Record Holders". Austine Media. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  5. "Spin. Set. Record: Global DJ Obi". The Guardian. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  6. "Nigerian DJ sets world record with marathon 10-day set". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  7. Bein, Kat (11 November 2016). "Nigerian DJ Sets Guinness World Record With Marathon 10-Day DJ Set". Billboard. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  8. Garber, David (13 July 2016). "Meet the Nigerian DJ Who Fought Hallucinations to Set a World Record With a Ten-Day Set". Vice. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  9. Atoyebi, Maryam (28 June 2016). "Nigeria's DJ Obi Is About To Break A Guinness World Record…Hopefully". Zikoko. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  10. Abubakar, Murtala (13 July 2016). "DJ Neo sets new world record for longest marathon club DJing". The Cable: Lifestyle. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  11. "Nigerian DJ Obi attempts to break world record with 10-day set". BBC News. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  12. "GuinnessWorldRecords on Twitter: "Unfortunately DJ Obi's ." Guinness World Records. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  13. Powell, Amber (30 April 2017). "Louisville DJ breaks Guinness World Record for longest continuous set". Wave3 News. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  14. "The Future Awards Africa 2016 Nominees Profiles". The Future Awards Africa. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  15. "See the inspiring profiles of the winners of The Future Awards Africa 2016". The Future Awards Africa. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  16. "'Nigerian airport securities think my laptop stand is a weapon!' – DJ Obi". Encomium. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  17. "DJ OBI". The Plug Entertainment. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  18. "Global DJ Obi". reader.magzter.com pp. 30-31. Bold Magazine Africa. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  19. "BOLD Issue 5". magzter.com. Bold Magazine Africa. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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