Tributes pour in after popular Jamaican Disc Jockey Arif Cooper passed away.
DJ Arif Cooper was deejaying at a party on Saturday night when he collapsed and died, reports claimed in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The entertainer was well known in the music fraternity as one of Jamaica’s best DJs and as a radio broadcaster on the local radio station, FAME 95FM.
According to several news reports, Cooper reportedly died from a suspected heart attack. Details of the medical condition are scarce, but fans at an event held at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew on Saturday night says that the disc jockey appeared normal while playing a set at the party before he collapsed and appeared to be having a “seizure.” He was rushed to a local hospital for treatment.
Multiple sources confirmed with Urban Islandz that Cooper was pronounced dead at the hospital by medical staff.
Arif Cooper first began deejaying in the thriving 1990s music culture starting in 1991, but his schooling in music came much earlier thanks to his father, Michael Ibo Cooper, the founder and a member of the legendary reggae band Third World.
Cooper spent much time with his father as a child and benefitted from learning music by playing the piano, and later he would go on to be able to study many popular artists like Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen, and Sting.
He later joined his father on the road as a crew member for Third world as the band performed across the world.
Cooper later set out on his solo DJ career, starting as a house party DJ but quickly rose in popularity. He, along with several others, founded the popular Syndicate Disco that operated from 1992-1997, and he later left as he took on gigs around the world as a DJ for clubs, parties, and shows in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, and Japan.
Over the course of his three-decade career, Cooper toured the world as DJ for artists like Sean Paul, Voice Mail, and Alaine and he has also worked with Vybz Kartel, Tami Chynn, Jah Cure, Elephant Man, Baby Cham, Demarco, Aidonia, Konshens, Wayne Marshall, and Christopher Martin.
Sean Paul shared a tribute for the artist on Sunday morning.
“Jah know, still cyaah believe I woke up to this news,” Sean Paul wrote. “So much great musical memories shared with this legendary producer and DJ. Condolences to his family and friends.”
