House Music Guru & Trend Setter
In the dynamic world of electronic music, few genres have stood the test of time like house music. From its origins in the underground clubs of Chicago to its global domination today, house music continues to inspire the human race. In the latest installment of the Kultshur series, curated by myself, listeners are treated to a journey through the depths of Afro tech music, featuring a special guest appearance by one of the genre's most influential figures.
For Episode 2 of Kultshur, Karim Yousry pulls out all the stops by inviting one of the biggest house music gurus to the mix. This special guest, whose timeless hits have left a mark on the house scene since the 90s, brings his signature sound to the Kultshur platform. Listeners can expect a masterclass in house music as Karim Yousry and his guest take them on a one hour tychoon through the genre's rich history and evolution.
But Kultshur is more than just a mixtape; it's an experience that goes beyond the music. In addition to the sounds of house music, Episode 2 also features an exclusive interview with the guest artist.
Dive deep into the mind of this legendary figure as he shares insights into his creative process, influences, and the state of house music today. It's a rare opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge from one of the genre's pioneers.
The Mix and Interview Series: Episode 2
Featured Artist: Jerry Ropero
Launching into Episode 2 of our series, we present an hour mixtape curated by Jerry Ropero and Karim Yousry.
The collaborative jam was nothing short of extraordinary.
Now, join us as we uncover the guru's fun yet informative secrets.
Q1: Hello everyone, and welcome to another exciting edition of Karim Yousry's afro mixtapes. Today, we have a true legend in the house, the one and only Jerry Ropero! Jerry, thanks for joining us.
Hello, my dear karim. I'm very, very happy to be on your show. It's really an honor for me. And let's start this.
Q2: First off, Jerry, can you share a bit about your background? People seem to have various guesses about your origin—Italian, Lebanese, Greek. What's the real story?
And well honestly, Kareem and to the people who are listening to us right now. Sometimes I don't even know where I am from. I've been traveling so much in the last years and living in at least 14 countries, but, uh, I've just been checking my passport out and, uh, I think I'm born in Antwerp in Belgium and was raised the half of my little youngster life in Spain. So actually I am half Spanish, half Belgian, and, uh, half or quarter or call it like one, uh, world traveler and a world citizen.
Q3: Now, 'Fuck You' is a track that's etched into the memories of many. We've heard there's an interesting story behind it. Care to share?
I Actually, that's a very good question. Yeah. Um, the real story behind this, uh, is that back then, Dennis the Menace and I were making music. We did Coracao. We did a lot of, uh, stuff. And, um, the story behind this is that Terry be my singer with whom I did avant garde. Get down! Um, in the first beginning of my career in 1999. Um, we're very good friends. Still very good friends nowadays. And I was living in Hamburg back then, and so were, uh, so was also Terry.
And one day she called me and she said that she was extremely, uh, uh, mad on her boyfriend back then, and and she was like, yeah. And he told me this. He told me that said, hold on, hold on. Come to the studio and you relax, and you tell me the story here. So she came, but she was really still very excited. And she said, yeah, but, you know, he told me this, he was going to do that for me. So fuck you. And I told him, fuck you and then blah blah blah. He promised me so many things, so fuck you.
So in between she was explaining the story. I said to Dennis, please put the microphone and let's record that. So, um, I was like, yeah, go on, go on telling the story here in the mic. And she told me the whole story. And then Dennis and I, we started, you know, like cutting bits and pieces of it until we had what you nowadays hear in the song Fuck You.
And by the way, Kareem, I told you this is on a personal note already, but we can talk about this here on your amazing show. This year we're coming out with a new version of Fuck You together with an amazing, uh, producer called Jaz Cepeda and of course, Terry. And it's very, very Afro, but very, very big. Uplifting. I think you guys listening to this, you're going to enjoy the track extremely much.
Q4: When it comes to music production, could you give us a sneak peek into your studio setup? Do you think developing production skills is essential for artists aspiring to perform in their dream clubs and festivals?
Well, yeah, that's really nice that you're asking me, um, to make a very, uh. Long story short, um, actually, the thing is, 15 years ago, I was diagnosed, like, a bipolar two patient. So. Yes, I'm very proud to say I'm bipolar. Actually, I was even the first star DJ, celebrity DJ, known DJ, or just a DJ, call it like you want. Who came out on a celebrity show in Romania admitting and saying out loud that I have a mental health issue, so I am bipolar two. So I guess a lot of people listening to the show around the world are also suffering from mental health. Now and you know I don't want to make too much promotion here but if you feel something wrong and you don't know where to go then well I was going to speak Spanish so you can always DM me on jerryroperoofficial on my Instagram because I will always be very glad to help people.
Q5: Your journey with therapy, especially dealing with bipolar disorder, is truly inspiring. Can you tell us how that unfolded and led you to your interest in healing?
Now me when I started getting therapy and very important point as well I was doing a lot of drugs back then when I was a DJ and drinking champagne you know how it works and then since the day the doctor the psychiatrist told me Jerry if you leave drugs and alcohol I can give you medication and therapy and that's what chosen for then my life started going very better amazing life I'm living right now on medication and meanwhile I was getting therapy I fell in love with therapy and I said to myself wow this is what I want to do in my life besides music and I want to be helping people and as I like to research a lot well I stumbled over a video of Richard Banger the co -founder of NLP so neuro linguistic programming and hypnosis and he became my idol and I was watching these videos for years and you know life sometimes brings you together and yeah those coincidences from life though I'm not very the coincidence guy I got to to to meet his protege Juan Antonio Perez and then together with his protege right now I am officially licensed NLP and hypnosis practitioner signed and licensed by both of them also Richard Banger so I think I feel very very very happy that I'm doing this in my life that I'm giving back people the life that they deserve and this is the most beautiful satisfaction for me at least.
Q6: Absolutely, I completely resonate with what you're expressing. Personally, I've been on my sober journey for four years now, and I can wholeheartedly say it's been the best decision of my life. It's like discovering a whole new world since the day I was born. So, Let's talk about another gem of yours, 'Coracao.' Rumor has it there's an interesting story behind it in Hamburg. Mind shedding some light on that?
Oh my god, oh my god, Coraçao, did you guys know, and did you know Karim too, that this year, 2024, Coraçao has his 20th anniversary? My god, and it's still being a hit play by everybody in the world, also with the version I did last year with the Black Eyed Peas called Simply the Best, which is a combination of Coraçao and the vocals of Simply the Best, I mean, sorry from the Black Eyed Peas, obviously, now called Simply the Best.
The story is actually very interesting, but I don't know if we can air the real story. Well, let's make it a little different, but let's say that I was DJ actually in Hamburg together with one of my best friends, Sandro Sandrino, producer and DJ, and I had a Brazilian girl who was a whole time coming in the middle of the set, oh Jerry, give me the mic, give me the mic.
I was like, no, you can't sing, and we're DJing in the club this fall, 3 ,000 guests in the club, and I cannot just give you now the microphone, and you're a little bit drunk, you know, check, please, no, I want to sing, please, please, please.
So you know, sometimes you say, well, it's okay, you know what, come to the studio and you know, why don't you sing there? And I told Dennis, I said, look, this Brazilian lady wants to come and you know, give her a chance, five minutes, and then she goes home and then at least it doesn't come bothering me anymore.
She seemed to be a very sweet woman, but for sure not a singer. And I had already played the piano chords that everybody know from piano, from Corazão, and she starts singing the text that we had written, she starts singing that.
And obviously, she's not the best singer in the world, but she did it very well, because she has a voice that doesn't look or sound like other voices on the market. And I think this combination has made the hit out of it, the combination of the chords, obviously, the melody, and the way she sang it, and a very easy lyric.
So yeah, that's how Corazão was born, and I'm very proud of the people who have been working with me to do this.
Q7: Your studio seems to be a hub of creativity. Can you give us a sneak peek into what you have in there? Any favorite gear or unique setups?
Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, of course, of course, Karim, I like my studio, but to tell the truth, and a bunch of people know this already because I've been doing some videos about it, I don't have a studio anymore.
And how crazy how it sounds, I have my MacBook, I have a bunch of plugins, I love Waves plugins, I love, and I still work with Logic, yeah? And as monitors, I really use my iPhone headphones, the one with the cable, not the other ones.
The one with the cable because the sound is very linear, so the bass is not lying to me, so when I would hear a good bass and then I would listen to it outside with other kind of headphones, then we wouldn't hear the bass no more, so I mean, everybody who is producing and listening here know exactly what I'm talking about.
So yeah, I do everything, I produce, I master, I mix, I master everything with the iPhone headphones on my MacBook. Actually, I should ask Apple to endorse me, yeah, what do you think, Karim? Yeah, of course, that would be the most best thing that could happen in my life.
But anyway, and plugins, I love the Waves plugins, I love the Ozone plugins, and now I'm already working with some AI plugins, but just to test them out, like the most is AI for vocals, and I think, I mean, I love and embrace technology and AI, and I think this is going to bring us, or it's already bringing us, some very extremely nice things.
Of course, for other people who have another opinion, well, you know, then they say different things about AI, but I think AI is very, very nice, it's really nice.
Q8: Finally, Jerry, given your wealth of experience, how do you think artists like us can contribute to a healthy and thriving music scene?
When you talk about a healthy way, look, I totally have been doing drugs and alcohol my whole life. So I know the two sides from when I was doing drugs and from when I was not doing drugs anymore. To keep it healthy, I would really want to ask the people who are listening to us right now to just think about what they're doing with their body.
Because when we're young, we can do everything and we don't care. But it's something really, really dangerous. Then at least to inform themselves what is this kind of drugs and what is it going to do to me in a short period.
And long term obviously because we need to know at least what we do with the body to have a more Healthy environment in another way. We have to respect other DJs. We have to respect producers. We have to stop talking Wrongly about other people because this is definitely not going to help us if we talk bad about somebody It's not gonna help him It's not gonna help you if you talk good and you promote each other and if you sustain each other and support each other Then we can start being very strong and most probably being alive again the real music industry we know Spotify etc has caused a lot of pain and This is not necessary to do.
So if we really respect each other, I see a bright future.
Q9: And with that, we conclude our amazing chat with Jerry Ropero. Jerry, thank you so much for sharing your stories and insights. It's been an absolute pleasure.
thank you my dear Karim, my brother and thank you to everybody listening to this amazing show and anytime I'm back with you we can speak about more things I'm always there if people need to ask me something about whatever they want again they can contact me always on JIropero official on Instagram send me a DM and yeah I had a great time here I listen to the music it's great music in the background and I'm very happy that I was invited by you because you know I appreciate you a lot my friend I see you very soon everybody and you of course too
Tracklist:
El Mundo - All Along the Way [Souq Records]
Jerry Ropero & Dennis The Menace - Coracao (LIVA K Remix)
Atjazz, Jullian Gomes, Jimpster - It's My Time (Jimpster Remix) [Atjazz Record Company]
Homeboyz, Kyaku Kyadaff, DJEFF - Nkolwa (DJEFF Remix) [Kazukuta Records]
Fish Go Deep, Tracey K - The Cure & The Cause (Idris Elba Extended Remix) [Defected]
Inaky Garcia, Davide Leonardo (ES), George Calle - Another Star (Inaky Garcia Remix) [Savage Worldwide]
PDM, Afgo - Mariposa [City Noise]
Berin - Amaré (Original Mix) [Wired]
Momo Ryuk - Ksser Essouk (feat. Salah Hammadi) [Elbaraka Family]
Tom Caruso, Sam Dexter - Good Stuff (Extended Mix) [Glasgow Underground]
Jerry Ropero & Denis The Menace - Fuck You
Dennis Ferrer - Hey Hey (Jack Back Extended Remix) [Defected]
To be continued ..
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