Okai Musik:
20 Years of Musical Experience

Okai is a vocalist/percussionist who embodies all the music of the African Diaspora.

About Okai

Brooklyn born with Haitian descent, 
young Okai was beating on anything that he could get his hands on to help his imagination grow. His ears became infected with the hard boom bap drum loops of Hip Hop, and roots music from the Caribbean. Those sounds
 led him on a musical path to find rock, Jazz, samba, salsa, rumba and pretty much anything that involves percussion. Okai began his path of percussion on the trap set playing for various churches. He then played Congas for his High School band for several years. Once he was introduced to the West African Djembe he concentrated on that for more than 10yrs. 

Aside from being an achieved percussionist, Okai is also an achieved Emcee that has worked with various Artists and has a couple of solo albums “Dekonstruktion of the Mind” produced by Ayatollah and “Okai’s Odyssey”.

Okai’s cultural background shaped him into being the full round artist he is today. He is Currently the lead singer and percussionist of Brown Rice Family who won “The Battle of the  Boroughs” in NYC in 2012. Okai is also co-founder of Strings N Skins who are currently finishing an album to be released in the fall. He is an active percussionist in New York always sharing his voice and energetic rhythms.

Okai has had the pleasure of performing before audiences at Brooklyn Museum, the legendary African art auction exhibition at Sotheby’s,  Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall and venues throughout the States. Internationally Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Canada, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Australia, Japan and Brazil have been showered with his sounds and soon the rest of the world will.

Okai Musik?

Named Okai {Okay} in homage of my parents hometown,  I’m a self-taught percussionist who discovered drumming at the age of five with two kitchen knives and a bucket. I tried to make sense of the rhythms that were flowing through me in my parents’ Brooklyn apartment hallway until my arms were tired.

Although born in Brooklyn, from Haitian immigrant parents, and exposed to a variety of rhythms, what mostly influenced me and played often on the radio  was hip hop and pop music. Beat boxing was starting to flood the streets, and I found myself trying to emulate rhythms with my mouth. By frequently attending church with my mom, I traded  the bucket and knives for a drum set and sticks playing for the local choir.

As a youngster in Brooklyn, I attended urban public schools that offered little exposure to and training in the musical arts. In Highschool I chose music as my elective which opened me up to a better understanding on how to read and write music and I became the official Conga player for Canarsie High school band.

After High school I started my own band which I was the drummer and MC. When that band broke up I bought a djembe and it opened a whole new world for me as a hand percussionist. I developed an intimate connection with this instrument because of its variety of tones. Playing the djembe is the longest I’ve spent playing one instrument in my career as a percussionist. In between being a M.C. and djembe player I introduced the djembe into my live performances. Playing and rapping has become my signature and since then the djembe has changed my life spiritually and professionally.

I cultivated my own education as a drummer through listening to Hip-Hop, tap dancers, observing drummers play on the streets of New York, and replicating what I saw and heard.  These observational learning experiences gave me the foundation needed to develop my own style of finding accents, fills, and discovering pre-existing drum patterns. I have built upon my innate musicality to develop my career as a professional musician and educator.  I have come to understand in order to further develop as an artist, I must train, research, and culturally immerse myself in the art and history of drumming; these are the necessary next steps for my artistic practice to further develop. As part of further developing my musical ability I am learning traditional Haitian and Cuban rhythms.   

As a hand percussionist, I am passionate about exploring the root of drum music in the cultures of African Diaspora communities.  everyday is a journey to deepen my understanding and appreciation of the rhythms that are named after African deities.

Music Activism

As an artist one of my goals is to stay connected with my community in New York City. I have been a teaching artist in NYC for the past 10yrs currently working with organization like Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Carnegie Hall- Weill Music institute, Mark Morris Dance co, Haiti Cultural Exchange, Bombazo dance co and many others throughout the past. I have been or taught at countless public schools, and private schools in NYC and abroad.

 

Check out my work

MY SERVICES

drum lessons

PERFORMING EXPERIENCE

Strings N Skins: Percussionist/Vocalist
Stringsnskinsmusic.com
Brooklyn, NY 2015-present

Founded in Brooklyn, by Haitian vocalist and percussionist Okai and Colombian vocalist, dancer, and Latin Grammy Award Winning violinist, Luisa Bastidas. Strings N skins is unparalleled, and has been recognized as one of the most distinct bands of New York City.
Together they have performed at Brooklyn Museum, BRIC tv, Shea Stadium, and Cali Colombia.

Brown Rice Family: Percussionist/Vocalist
www.brownricefamily.com
Brooklyn, NY   2009-Present

Brown Rice Family is today’s freshest world roots band jamming towards global solidarity and organic happiness. Guided by a strong belief that there is a natural flow to life, BRF provides the masses with a distinctively organic World Roots Music, which encompasses Jazz stylings, Afrobeat, Reggae, Rock, Latin rhythms, Hip-hop, and Funk. The band is presently comprised of eight members hailing from all over the world—Japan, Jamaica, Haiti, Nigeria, South Africa and USA. In 2012 BRF won the WNYC Battle of the Boroughs out of 542 bands. First we won for Brooklyn then we won for the best band in all the boroughs of NYC. Together we have performed all over the United States, Japan several times and Cote D’ivoir, Africa.

Bombazo Dance Co: Drummer/Vocalist/Dancer
Bombazodanceco.com
The Bronx, NY 2012-Present

Bombazo is a 501(c)- 3 non-profit drum and dance company, whose mission is to preserve, educate and showcase traditional Afro Puerto Rican Bomba, Afro Caribbean and traditional folkloric elements.

Okai Musik: M.C./Producer/Percussionist
Brooklyn, NY   2004-Present

I have two solo albums. The first album was entitled Dekonstruktion of the Mind, that had a single on it which earned the #1 spot on college charts in 2006. The second album was called Okai’s Odyssey. I have been fortunate enough to travel to Australia, Africa, Brazil, Canada, and Japan spreading the message of Haiti and unity.

I am also a producer/percussionist for OyaSound.com, a Afrohouse music label based in Brooklyn NY.

teaching artist

Carnegie Hall: Teaching artist, Musical director, Project leader.
Bronx and Brooklyn, NY   2014-Present

Bronx Hope school, Bronx NY present 2016-present
Crossroads Detention center, Brooklyn, NY  2014
Belmont Academy, Brooklyn, NY   2015-2016
Horizon Detention Center, Bronx, NY   spring 2015
 
Brown Rice Family in which I am lead vocalist/percussionist, creates music with youths in juvenile detention centers using live instruments and beat making program. This process is followed by an intense writing workshop to add lyrics to the music they helped us create. BRF goes into the studio to record the music and adds vocals of students on to the track. To finalize the project we put on a performance along with the participants for the staff, parents, and their friends.

Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM): Teaching Artist, Curriculum development.
 Brooklyn, NY 2017- Present

Every year BAM focuses on a particular music and dance of the African Diaspora. Last year was South Africa, this year the focus is on Rwanda music and dance. Teaching artist are required to take music and dance workshops and develop a curriculum that we can implement in classrooms throughout schools in Brooklyn. The purpose is to get students familiar with the Dance Africa show at BAM that takes place in May.

Discovering the music of the African diaspora Curriculum:

Bombazo dance co various schools and senior citizen homes in the Bronx
P.S. 307 Pioneer academy Queens, NY- 2013-17
P.S.189 Brooklyn, NY- 2015-17
Etap Jenes Delmas,Haiti- 2015
Brooklyn Generation High School Brooklyn, NY- 2012

This curriculum focuses on playing various percussion instruments, music history of the African Diaspora and its influence on today’s music.

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