Allejo: DJ Neptune On The Wheels Of Steel
He is regarded as one of the foremost DJs in Nigeria and beyond. He’s a popular face on radio and he is also the in-house DJ for one of the top radio stations in Nigeria, RayPower FM. Allejo welcomes you to the world of DJ Neptune whose real name is Patrick Imohiosen.
DJ Neptune is currently working on his mixtape and need i say any further? Read up this interesting and detailed interview to find out more.
Can we get a brief into who you really are?
DJ Neptune is a human being like every other person out there and the names are Imohiosen Patrick and am from Edo State. From a family of four (Three girls and a boy), I was born in Lagos state and lived all my life in Lagos.
Why the choice of ‘Neptune’ as a name, what is the story behind it?
The truth is the name Neptune came by accident. As a DJ that could rock a party way back, I needed a striking name that’s not common and one that people would hear and want to know whats up with the dude behind the name. I was always fond of playing(scratching)a particular part of a record performed by Busta Rhymes and produced by The Neptunes and I got so addicted to this act that I kept repeating it at different parties. Before I knew what was going on, people started calling me Mr Neptunes, we know u will repeat your normal act at this party ( laughs). I got home and thought about the name and then decided to stick to it. I removed the S cos of piracy and sticked with DJ Nep2une but people kept mistaking it for DJ Neptune so I just left it that way.
Why did you decide to go into DJing, especially at a time when money and fame could not be ascribed to it?
Music and entertainment has always been something I ever wanted to do since when I was young. I started off with singing but my folks discouraged me so I had to step down for a while. I then had the opportunity to do what I wanted to do when I lost my dad and it all got into me when I attended a friend’s party and watched how the DJ performed. Since music and entertainment has always been something I wanted to do and it had connections with DJing, I decided to stick to DJing believing one day my labour and hard work will bring me to lime light.
You are regarded as one of the top DJs in the game home and abroad, you have definitely paid your dues to reach this stage. What were the striking challenges you faced before reaching this stage?
It wasn’t easy coming this far but that’s life for us. We are meant to come across challenges at every stage of our lives and this keeps me moving strong. It wasn’t easy to get a DJ to put me through until I finally met with DJ Douglas (Based in the U.K).
He believed in my dreams, put me through and gave me the chance to practice with his equipments. Thereafter DJ Douglas left for London, I kept the hustle on and got a job with Ray Power 100.5 FM as the in – house DJ and from there the rest became history.
How did you learn to use your first piece/set of dj equipments?
The first time I played on a djs equipment was in 2000 at a party with my boss, DJ Douglas. I already knew the basics of DJing and while the party was on he needed to take a break so he could make use of the rest room. While he was away, the music that was playing was about to end so I built up the courage, picked up another record that on was the same tempo with the song that was playing, cued the first beat, released the beat on the other song’s beat, dragged the pitch on the turn table and that was how it started. DJ Douglas rushed out of the rest room to find out who was on the turn tables and to his greatest surprise it was me. He took over from me and on our way back home after the party he told me to go buy my set of pin and cartridge and come for more lessons. That night was my happiest night so far.
We must congratulate you on picking up the prestigious NEA award 2009 as the ‘BEST DJ 2009′. Did you ever thought about picking the award this time, considering the fact that was the second time you were actually nominated?
I thank God for the awards, everybody out there that voted for me and RayPower FM for exposing me to the world. I didn’t see it coming but I learnt from the previous nomination that there’s more work to be done. Been nominated is something and we had other good DJs on the category (Shout out to the other Naija DJ’s). Well I got myself busy with different projects aside DJing on radio and am happy it resulted to something positive and I give God the glory.
Neptune, what does this award really mean to you? Will it be right to say that was the highlight of your career?
YES it is. Traveling outside the shores of Africa to go grab an award in the United States Of America was something big for DJ Neptune and again that was the first award I ever received all these years. I urge our promoters and award organizers back home to learn from this. DJs are not just to be seen as regular people in the entertainment industry, we are the pillar between the artists and the fans so DJs should be rewarded with awards, get well paid etc. This is just the beginning and I believe it’s not going to be the last award DJ Neptune will receive. Once again I thank God.
You work with RayPower FM, as one of their in-house deejay, what is the difference with mixing beats on radio and parties?
It all depends on how versatile and sensitive u are as a DJ. If you are DJing on radio, you should have it in mind that you are DJing for different sets of people. You got the happy people, depressed people, working class people, teenagers, kids etc listening to you on radio at different time of the day so you should be able to play different genres of songs and also watch out for songs with curse words because of the lil kids listening to you. If you are DJing at a party or club, it’s quite different because everybody present at the party wants to dance and enjoy themselves. So you need to be very sensitive as a radio DJ and know what to do and play at certain time of the day.
What is the lowest and highest fee you have collected for DJing?
The lowest fee I ever got was 3,500 thousand naira when I was still hustling (laughs) and the highest I got some years back was 150,000 thousand naira. But now when gongo don so (laughs), the least you can get DJ Neptune for now is 300,000 thousand naira and above.
What is the largest crowd you’ve ever had to DJ to?
The largest crowd I ever DJed was at the Calabar festival and the venue was the Calabar Football Stadium with over 20,000 people standing in front of me while some sat down. it’s was me, Neato C and Ikechukwu that was on stage.
What genres of music do you think get the crowd moving most?
That depends on where you find yourself as a DJ and the crowd in front of you so I really cant speak on that but as for me I will just study the crowd for the first few minutes and get my groove on.
Most people in your line are moving into the production line, could there be any reason behind it considering that you are deeply involve in the production line too?
DJs have a good and wide sense of music. World famous Timberland was once a DJ before switching over to production. You have lots of them like that in the industry so I don’t see anything wrong with it. You find DJs abroad doing different remixes of several artists and that’s also a regular thing that suppose to be relevant in the Nigeria music industry.
How soon should we be expecting your mix tape and what major collaboration (locally and int’l) are there to look out for?
Work is still going on with the mix tape album and as soon as it’s done Allejo will be the first to know. Have got heavy collabos on the mix tape album with artists like Neato C, Banky W, Da Grin, Jessy Jags, Iceburg Slim, Mode 9 etc and lots of stars in the making. I leave the rest till the album drops.
What will you be doing with music in the next 5, 10 years?
I want to be a C.E.O of my own record label, sign artists, have my t.v show, embark on my official tour around the world and many more.
Who will be in your top five-naija club-banger music producer’s list in the country?
We have got lots of great music producers and beat makers and I don’t really want to mention names but they know themselves and I will leave it that way. Am sorry I can’t call names cos its more than what you are asking for.
What is favourite whip (car)
I am not really crazy about whips but there’s a particular car I would like to have has one of my private whips and that’s a Lamborghini car but for now am still managing my Honda Accord.
Best hangout in Nigeria?
Swe Bar, City Mall is the perfect place for me.
What was the lie you told recently?
Hmmm can’t remember cos we lie every day of our lives either intentional or not.
What is your most popular line/saying?
No Wahala…God dey (lol).
Are you Xtremely naija/truly naija?
True born and breed Nigerian. Them say make we no dey call am Naija again (laughs).
Any word for Allejo?
Thanks for the interview Allejo. You ROCK, DJ Neptune says so.
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Nice interiew.. props to my boy Neptune