I have been immersed in soulful music since early childhood. Having a keyboard playing father with a respectable collection of jazz soul and fusion records laid out the obvious musical path. Artists like Herbie Hancock, Jeff Lorber, Earth Wind & Fire, Brecker Brothers, Bob James, George Duke, Quincy Jones, Chaka Khan, Gino Vannelli etc, started me off and are still major influences.
Started out with overdubbing on cassette decks with a Casio VL Tone toy keyboard and gradually moved on to proper synths and beat boxes to computers. After years of gigging and perfecting production skills in the studio, it was time to approach the record labels. After a few obscure independent releases, and productions and remixes for the majors, I dropped the Opolopo debut album, Omnifarious, in 2003. It kind of summed up the various elements that had made up my musical universe to that point, spanning from d'n'b through house to soul. The second full length album, RF Presens OPOLOPO, is out now on JVC Victor Japan.
Most of my stuff is danceable but never looses the jazz and soul element. It’s like Herbie Hancock once said in an interview: "As much as I kept trying to make it funk, it kept integrating with these jazz elements, so after a while I stopped fighting."
I would have no problem with earning millions from my music. I only have problems with making bland music.
Influences
Herbie Hancock, Jeff Lorber, Earth Wind and Fire, Brecker Brothers, Bob James, George Duke, Salsoul Orchestra, Quincy Jones, Creed Taylor, Arif Mardin, Bill Laswell, Nautilus, Jay Graydon, Chaka Khan, Marcus Miller, Gino & Joe Vannelli, Chuckii Booker, West London, MAW, Roger, General Kane/Caine, Bootsy, Pleasure, Francis Lai, Michel Legrand, Miles Davis, Isao Tomita, the list goes on...
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