| Canadian DJ, recording artist, label owner and producer The One Russtafari (Russell Soper) has been flaunting his talent world-wide for the past few years. Although mostly known for ragga-jungle, his styles vary from hip-hop, funk, breaks, dubstep, reggae and mash-up with a touch of turntabilisim.
The One Russtafari successfully launched his career in Canada and was involved in various different projects before leaving. He played in a 9 piece funk band; “Margarita’s Calling”in St. John's. He also performed many party rocking sets all over Canada including "Snow Jam" as well as showcasing at the "Junos“.
The One Russtafari also competed in the 2000 DMC World DJ Championship Eliminations held in Ontario when he was known as “DJ Eternal” and he was also the winner of Scope Magazine's "Best of St. John's" best DJ.
In addition, he was involved in group projects including a down-tempo collaboration called “Lurkers” and a ragga-jungle duo that went by the name “Dreaded Youths”. Dreaded Youths had two international releases on Cook ‘N’ Curry Records under the Jungle X banner. These releases didn’t take long to sell out through markets in Canada, England, Eastern Europe and Japan.
While Russtafari’s passion is deeply rooted in the ragga-jungle genre, he has teamed up with DJ Evo to form RudeBwoy SoundSystem which is an umbrella for both artists to operate under. It is a label that showcases many genres of music including hip-hop, funk, breaks, mash-ups, ragga and drum & bass. Russtafari’s first solo 12”, “Good Love/Suzzane” was released under the label RudeBwoy SoundSystem. This label represents diverse DJ styles that have rocked dance floors all across Canada and France, Asia and it is now continuing it’s path in other areas of the world.
Russtafari relocated from Canada to Asia in 2008. His first destination was Seoul, Korea where he teamed up with Konkrete Jungle and was a mainstay resident DJ at all of the Konkrete Jungle events sharing the stage with many international acts such as Utah Jazz. His next move was to Tokyo, Japan where he spent time producing his latest album "The Things We've Lost in Our Minds". Shortly after, The One Russtafari moved to California where he was a resident DJ at one of San Diego’s hottest ocean side clubs. He then left to continue touring provincial Canada.
The One Russtafari has just arrived back in Seoul, South Korea after a busy 2 months in Barbados and London, England. He is getting ready to launch his new album which is due to hit record stores this year! The future looks to be a bright and busy for The One Russtafari with many productions and releases on the way. Whether he’s rocking a full on hip-hop set for the b-boys, a dancehall set for the dreads or Ragga-Jungle to the Konkrete Jungle massive, The One Russtafari is one not to be missed! | Q & A with Russtafari
Q: Where does your artist name come from? A: Marmalade.
Q: Tell us more about your musical roots! A: no.
Q: How did you start producing music? A: well i was never satisfied with just djing
Q: Are you also a DJ? A: yes
Q: Do you work together with other artists also? E.g. Remixes? A: I've worked with many artist over the years, played with a 9 piece funk band, a reggae band, a klezmer band and worked or was part of such groups as Dreaded Youths, 1nce Prodigal, Lurkers, RudeBWOY SoundSYSTEM, Jamalski to name a few.
Q: Do you have any special musical aims? A: to get this out of my head
Q: What do you think of the contemporary popular music which is played by normal radio stations? A: its great for the sheep that listen to it.
Q: What have you read recently (book, play, film, etc.) that moved or surprised you? A: User Manual for MK5
Q: What is your all-time favorite track? Why? A: are you trying to make my head explode?
Q: What's one thing you're a fan of that people might not expect? A: Live Acoustic Music |
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