DJ OSOCITY Does This One Thing, And the Internet is Freaking Out

DJ Osocity Introduces Garifuna Music to the World with latest Mix

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Copyright 2023 by Teofilo Colon Jr for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved.

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San Pedro Belize Barrier Reef, Belize, Central America – On Tuesday, October 3rd 2023, Popular DJ, DJ Osocity released his Punta Mix 2023 / The Best of Punta video, the latest of his Mix Videos highlighting various types of music, on his YouTube channel.

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This Punta Mix 2023 Video is DJ Osocity’s first putting a spotlight on Garifuna music, in this instance, Punta or Punta Rock.

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The setting for DJ Osocity’s video was The San Pedro Belize Barrier Reef, which he explains, is the second largest in the world. Blue skies, cotton candy clouds, crystal clear blue water, overall, the tropical setting is picturesque and hypnotic.

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In the description section of the video, DJ Osocity explains what Punta is, where it came from and his enthusiasm for the music. As an introduction, it sure sounds festive.

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Although, the video was filmed in Belize, most of the Punta Mix 2023 features the music of the Honduran group, Kazzabe Agrupacion or Grupo Kazzabe.

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The following is a partial list of the songs and the artists/performers responsible for the songs included in DJ Osocity’s Punta Mix 2023 video.

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Song – Artist/Performer

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Negro Naci – Kazzabe

Punta Mix 2019 – Kazzabe

La Parranda (Sei Sei Bei) – Kazzabe

Revane Mix – Kazzabe

1 2 3 – Kazzabe

Balabaa – Kazzabe

Mi Tradicion – Kazzabe

O.M.G – Lil June

That Drum – Supa G

Enero (Punta Mix) – DJ Gato

Te Extraño Amor – Kazzabe

Kazzabe Punta Mix

Dona Amidi (En Vivo) – Kazzabe

Outside Jam – Hubee Punta Youth

Metela Sacala (LIVE) La Nueva Temporada – El Chevo

De Parque en Parque : Piamandi Baile Mami (LIVE) – Kazzabe

One Callah – Bussa B Band

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How are people responding to DJ Osocity’s Punta Mix 2023 Video?

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The reception to DJ Osocity’s Punta Mix 2023 video has been mixed so far.

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At the time of the publication of this post (7 days after the video’s publication), the video has earned 127,000 views.

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Many have expressed appreciation for DJ Osocity exposing Garifuna to his GIGANTIC (2.48 Million Subscribers on YouTube) audience.

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Others have pointed the lack of diversity in the songs/artists included in DJ Osocity’s Punta Mix 2023 mix.

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I have also seen criticism of the Garifuna community for being quick to share DJ Osocity’s video but apparently not being as quick to share similar efforts by Garifuna DJs out there.

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Maybe this kind of thing is just what can happen when dealing with an ethnic group as insular as The Garifuna People.

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I have observed fights occur when opportunities arose for exposure of Garifuna culture. For example, the time when Reality TV Star/Music Performer Amara La Negra was accused of being exploitive when she tried to incorporate Garifuna elements in a musical collaboration that she had a year or so ago.

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I hadn’t heard of DJ Osocity before he released his video last week. He appears genuinely interested in the music and his presentation is respectful and careful to a degree.

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Hopefully, this news serves as a wakeup call to Artists, Performers, Musicians, Singers of Garifuna Heritage to register the copyrights of their music. DJ Osocity has a video that has gotten 82 Million Views, and another one that has gotten 46 Million views.

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When I look at the music credits on DJ Osocity’s Punta Mix 2023 video, Most of it is credited to the Honduran band, Kazzabe, who are under the music company, MC Productions.

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The MC is for Mario Coto, a Honduran producer, arranger, composer, whose company has presumably owned plenty of Honduran musical groups over the decades.

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Currently, Kazzabe, Las Chicas Rolands, El Chevo and Mr. JC are all under MC Productions, which is now operated by Mario Coto Jr.

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Artists or Music Company Executives, Music Producers who are in control of and have registered their copyright of their music have the option to get some of the money from the advertising on monetized Videos on YouTube. The potential advertising fees generated on a YouTube video that has gotten 82 Million Views is considerable.

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Who is DJ Osocity?

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Like I mentioned earlier, I had not heard of DJ Osocity before he published his Punta Mix 2023 video. In doing research on DJ Osocity for this post, I found some things that we can learn from.

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31 Years Old, DJ Osocity was raised in South Florida. Apparently, Fort Lauderdale. He started DJing in High School, but decided to pursue it as a career while in college.

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DJ Osocity attended Bethune-Cookman University, Broward College and Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

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When asked about his background, DJ Osocity describes himself as Caribbean. An Island Boy. In an Interview with The IV the Culture Podcast in 2019, he states that his Father is Black and Chinese from Jamaica and his Mother is Indian and Portuguese from Guyana.

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I look at DJ Osocity and he comes across as Arabic, which the name he was apparently born with, Alex Haniff, suggests as well, but if he says he is Jamaican Guyanan, then so be it.

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DJ Osocity has a considerable following on social media networks, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter/X, etc. With his Personality, it’s easy to see why. His smile, his chanting, his dancing and overall, enthusiasm is infectious.

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DJ Osocity appears to be open-minded and willing to have a dialogue with people. In my research, I saw an interview he had with Haitians where he talked about his grind and interest in Haitian Music.

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