O Jay

Biography

O-Jay was born in Berlin in 1965. After finishing the regular school system, he studied at the Lette Foundation, a technical college for photography in Berlin. At age 18 he started working as an independent photographer. After two years he was hired by an advertising agency as an assistant photographer and became their head of the photo department a year later.

Since the age of 15, O-Jay was involved in the upcoming hip hop Movement in Germany. Besides being an active break-dancer (The Mighty Crash), he later became the co-founder of the Imperial Nation Berlin. In cooperation with Frank "Quickmix" Hassas he published the first German Hip Hop fanzine Freshbeat Magazin and produced the monthly Freshline Radio Show. 1988 he co-founded, also with Quickmix, the label Freshline Records.

1983–88

In 1983 he started collaborating with the German producer/musician Jens Kuphal on his first video project: "Jazzy times". A first attempt to record and produce a commercial record with one of his friends and Kuphal, failed to get a release. A year later, O-Jay started working with the Berlin-based DJ Quickmix (Frank Hassan Hassas) and eventually gave themselves the name "2 make music". Later, they started collaborating with the German producer / musician Micky Wolf. During that time, O-Jay met the rapper The A (Aram Mouchegh) and they changed their name into "Masterplan".

In 1987, Masterplan (Quickmix, O-Jay, The A) released their first record "We wanna be stars", on the Select Record Label. The record failed commercially but it formed O-Jay's entry into the music business. In collaboration with Quickmix, he started to produce the monthly Freshline Radio Show and published the first German Hip Hop Magazine, called Fresh Beat Magazine. Neither product lasted for long, because the two turned their focus on running their own label.

In 1988, they founded the Hip Hop Electro Group, The Alliance (Quickmix, O-Jay, Careem the Dream). Their first release "Action!" was released on their own label, Freshline Records and sold approximately 20,000 units with the help of their distribution partner 99 Records. This first 12" was followed by a couple of more releases, leading them to a first label deal with Rough Trade Records. While "Action!" (The Alliance) and the second release "Come into my life – Rap Version" (The Admirers) ended up being re-released by ZYX Records, the first album of The Alliance (It’s time …) and a couple of other products were released by Rough Trade.

1988–95

1988 saw the birth of the group M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy, in connection with a production request by Reinhard Piel (Head of A&R at ZYX Records) for a rap version of the Technotronic hit "Pump up the Jam". The following year the group signed a new label deal with ZYX Records and made further releases by M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy, for example the song "It’s on You". They also created a number of other productions, some projects and remixes. Around 1992, the label had financial problems and O-Jay started to work part-time as a photographer again.

In 1993, M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy signed a new deal with the German BMG / Hansa label. The first single “Another Night” charted within the top-twenty in Germany and subsequently became a massive hit across Europe. With the help of Vincent DeGiorgio, the song reached number one in Canada and the act was signed to Arista Records in America. During that time, O-Jay was also involved in the project called Maxx which was the brainchild of David Brunner.

With the upcoming release of "Another Night" in the US, the decision was made to change the name M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy, simply into Real McCoy. Real McCoy's "Another Night" reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, where it had a 40-week run inside the Top 40. The single was certified Platinum (1,000,000 copies sold), and became the best-selling single by a German artist in the American market. "Run Away," the follow-up single, entered the Top 40 of the Hot 100 Singles chart on 11 March 1995, eventually also reaching number three, and being certified Gold (500,000 copies sold) in the USA and over 1,500,000 copies sold around the world. The album "Another Night" was released by Arista in the U.S. on 28 March 1995, and the group won several awards around the world. However, despite what some sources mention, there was no Grammy nomination involved.

1999–present

In 1999, after the unexpected death of his father, O-Jay focused on the production of other artists. In 2000 together with the former front man of Maxx, Gary B. (Boris Köhler), he founded the production service, Blue PM Productions.

In 2001, they produced the German boy band B3 in collaboration with the Berman Brothers (who were also involved in the production of the first hits of Real McCoy) and the German-based production company Maxi-Media. This was followed by several other Top 20 and Top 10 productions.

In 2003 they produced and wrote the multi-platinum hit "Ab in den Süden" performed by their artist Buddy. Shortly after, O-Jay had a heart attack but made a full recovery.

As of 2006, O-Jay has been working for several national and international labels as a producer, songwriter, publisher and A&R adviser.

O-Jay represented Poland, with Ich Troje, in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2007 his new label "Phears Music" was launched, and the Real McCoy single "People Are Still Having Sex" - a cover of the song by William David LaTour was released.

In 2009, O-Jay performed in Canada (July 2009 - Z103.5 Summer Rush Halifax and Toronto concerts) and Austria (August 2009 - DJ BoBo and Friends concert) as part of the current Real McCoy formation.

Awards

Labels

Freshline Records • Move • Blue Point • P5 • Blue PM • Triumph Musik • Phears