Disc jockeying, according to Oluwaseun Olalekan Ososami, isn't only about putting on a show. “It's the ability to not just control the party, but to give people a feeling that they never had,” explains Ososami, whose stage name is Mufasa, The Philofasa. “Because you control the music throughout the night, you’re like the driver of the party.”
But Ososami's life hasn't always been about steering parties to pleasant destinations. “I grew up in the ghetto of Nigeria,” the Weinberg sophomore says of his childhood in Lagos. He says his upbringing in poverty gave him a sense of appreciation for everything, especially music. He got his first taste of American music in his teens on a Nigerian TV channel.
His father won a visa lottery to work and live in the United States in 1998, but he wasn’t able to bring his family over until April 2006, after he had reached a stable living. Ososami says he was a little surprised that America wasn’t like the glamorous rap music videos he saw as a kid.
“I wasn’t expecting [American poverty], but then I said ‘All right, this is something you’ve been used to,’” he says.
Ososami's disc jockeying journey began the summer after he graduated high school. He was spending the summer in Wicker Park. Unable to play sports because of a torn ACL, Ososami decided to spend his time bar-hopping. Ososami’s friend owned one of the bars he frequented, the now-closed Plan B Bar & Kitchen. One night Ososami saw a DJ at Plan B controlling the music, presiding over the party, and he knew how he wanted to spend the rest of his summer.
“For a teenager, being a DJ was like the ultimate pedestal,” Ososami says. “I was at the club, and I saw what [a DJ] was doing, and it was a great thing. At the same time, he was getting all the girls!”
Ososami quickly came up with a moniker, based on The Lion King and his love of philosophy, particularly Four Texts on Socrates. He began DJing that summer and continued when he enrolled at Northwestern in the fall. He self-promotes and has performed at events ranging from house parties to U NU Arts Night at J.J. Java Cafe. Ososami is now spearheading Mufasa Times, where he will bring his talents to J.J. Java on the first and third Friday of every month. Dancing is the priority at Mufasa Times. J.J. Java doesn’t serve alcohol, but Ososami says that's how he likes it. He believes the sober environment is conducive to musical fusion.
“I want, with my music, to make a more robust, a more social atmosphere,” Ososami says. “You can always go to other parties and get free beer ... but I want a bigger sense of liveliness on campus without the need of alcohol or going to The Keg.”
In Ososami's opinion, the music should be good enough that alcohol is unnecessary—you can feel euphoria straight from sound. “The ability to play across genres makes me a good DJ,” Ososami explains. After being groomed on Afrobeat and traditional music at Nigeria, Ososami expanded his repertoire when he came to the States, bringing in rap, R&B, disco and more. “What makes music so great is that, every day, there will be more and more of it,” Ososami says.
By mixing genres, Ososami hopes to emphasize emotion whenever he DJs. “It’s not about the genre anymore," he says. "It’s about how you feel at that specific moment.”