GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - OCTOBER 2016

here are genuine superstars with a million
followers that are completely different
from someone from the States
who has a million followers. Why not
put these people together and cross
pollinate these audiences and open up
opportunities for each other and each
others’ domain?”
As his love for music and diverse artistry
grew, so did SuperNova’s technical
skills. Introduced to sound design
on his college campus through DJing
over a decade ago, he was excited to
use hip-hop to drive messages home
through different art forms and tell stories.
As a sound designer and music
director for theater, he places sound
effects, music, and more to create the
auditory ambiance and tone that accompanies
a play.
Working with the Q Brothers, veteran
writers and directors of many stripped
down, hip-hop adaptations of Shakespeare’s
plays, came about when readiness
met with fate. After being spotted
by Jackson Duran at another show,
he referred SuperNova for the DJ gig
for their production, ‘A Q Brother’s
Christas Carol.’ Two weeks later in a
phone interview, the Q Brothers asked
what he would do if a homeless person
fell on the train track... SuperNova answered
the question correctly and was
hired on the spot. Years and many collaborations
later, he is to be reunited
with the Q Brothers for the New York
City run of Othello: The Remix opening
mid-November and presented by John
Leguizamo.
Within this contemporary retelling of
Shakespeare’s Othello, there is a lot
of pressure on and trust placed in SuperNova
to play Q Brother’s produced
music cues and use his sound design
skill set. He is as intimately involved
in the play as any of the actors, while
having the creative license to use DJ
techniques to help tell the story. With
trust factor at an all-time high, Super-
Nova said, “All the music is done live,
it’s not prerecorded at all… If one of
the guys skips a line, they trust me as
a DJ to bring it back.”
Currently, SuperNova is working a
seven episode documentary series,
(U).S.A. that will focus on the influential
South African hip-hop artists and
his own adventures as an international
DJ.
Always on the go, his travels have taken
him from South America to South
Africa. After his current tour through
Southern Africa, he has eyes set on
Europe and Asia to explore music in
those areas.
If you ever had any questions about how
far you could go, take it from the inspirational,
always on-time, multi-faceted
DJ SuperNova, “Never be content.
There are so many beautiful things that
are out there that we can learn from… I
just feel like I’m a better human being
because of traveling.”
Follow DJ SuperNova on IG www.instagram.com/djsupernova