In an exclusive interview with Herald Nigeria, award winning Nigerian Cyprus base Dj Extimate took us on a tour on how it all started for him, his ups and downs, achievements and what he looks forward to in the future.
See photos of some of the Artistes and celebrities Dj Extimate has worked with here.
Read excerpts from the interview below.
What is your name?
My real name is Damilola Afeez Mustapha, also known as Dj Extimate, Dstandard.
How did it all start for you?
Yeah, its never an easy task anyway, I started my music/Dj career in Nigeria in 2010 but when I came to Cyprus in 2015, I started everything officially as a professional Dj and I have faced some difficult movements but generally things have been good and I haven’t regretted ever been a DJ.
Who is your biggest inspiration? / Who do you have a lot of respect for?
To be sincere my biggest inspiration in the industry now is Nigerian Pop star Wizkid, he’s one of the biggest guy I really love and hope to work with him again by the Grace of God in the next coming years. I think we have the same vibe, he try to expand Nigerian music to the world and that’s one of my biggest inspiration as well and creating something iconic is something I love most as been a Dj. I have also worked with Olamide, Davido, Eazi, Kiss Daniels, Falz, Iyanya, and of recent I just finished a concert with Mayorkun and Elias, even when Runtown came to Cyprus on 29th October which was my birthday, I was so glad to play with him.
What single night out has been the most memorable for you? As a DJ? As an attendee?
Both, As a Dj and also as an attendee. One of the biggest night I will never forget is at the spring festival in Eastern Mediterranean University, that’s my school, Department of public relation and Advertising. The school called me officially in 2015 when I started professionally as a Dj to perform alongside other big stars from Turkey and even in Cyprus and I was the only African Dj there. I performed in front of more than five thousand people and they really showed me love when my beat came on.
Are you able to share any of your secret tricks with me?
Laughs… yeah yeah yeah, I won’t say it silently, one of my secret is that I will be a big star very soon.
What is one mistake you see a lot of up and coming DJs making? / What advice would you give to aspiring DJs?
They are a lot of mistakes Djs are making in Cyprus, they are some Djs I got much respect for but some of them are making a lot of mistake in terms of being greedy and stingy why performing, most Djs night are been scheduled each night to perform. Dj timing here is very poor to be sincere, for example, event starts by 10pm and you see a Dj coming by 2pm to perform and once one Dj have been there for long playing, he won’t allow any other Dj to perform because once the crowd start pulling up most Dj would like to come and perform because they want everybody to hear their name and some promoters and events planners are not actually helping, I have anchored many show with little or no payment and this also discourage most Djs. So, my advice to Djs is to always come to an event or club early.
Where do you think the scene is headed? One year from now? Five years from now?
Like I said early, I’m seeing myself as one of the biggest in the world in few years’ time, I have got some project I have been working on, basically I would love to hold concert in other countries after graduating. All I pray for is God grace and the opportunity to fulfill all my dreams in life.
If you could eternally be stuck in one year’s music scene, which year would it be?
It will be after my BSC program, so that I can face my entertainment hundred percent.
What genre you think get the attention it deserves?
Well, in Cyprus, they are a lot of Africans and one of the music genre that turn up the people is afro beat and some well-known hip-hop music and sometimes little of Reggae music.
What is it that you love about the scene? Your genre’s scene?
As an international Dj, I play music according to the type of Audience around, the type of song you play for a Turkish event is totally different from the one you play for a Nigerian event, so the type of audience for the event determine my genre of music, I can’t really say if I have a particular favorite genre of music.
What is something that bugs you about the DJ scene?
What actually disturb me while playing as a Dj is not giving the crowd what they want, I study crowd a lot and when they are not dancing to my beats it actually bothers me. I always try my possible best to give the crowd the best beat to hype them.
What is one track that never gets old for you no matter how many times you hear it?
They are a lot of tracks, I think the old school music, and we call them ever green music. For example Wizkid ‘Don’t dull’, ‘Double Wahala’ by Oritse Femi, Dagrin songs and many more.
What is one track that got popular that you can’t stand?
Not just one track but two. The first one is Wild Thought by Dj Khaled, once the beats comes on in the club everybody goes wild and the second one is Don’t Dull by Wizkid, just the intro alone gets the crowd screaming out loud.
You and your Fiancee welcomed a baby boy last month, would you love him to be a Dj?
His Name is Alex Khaled. Well, as for me I will try and put him into the music line but if grows up and choose another career, I have no choice but to support his dreams.
What do you say to your fans out there?
I just really want to say thank you to everyone that have been coming to my concert, especially for those who came for the recently concluded Dj Extimate Dstandard Cyprus Campus Tour (DDCCT), which was held from the 2nd of October to 28th, touching all the universities in Northern Cyprus. I really appreciate everyone for their support and love and to my fans out there, I want to say a big thank you to you all, I love you all.
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