Nigeria-born and China-based DJ Ojo Kolade James, commonly known as ‘DJ Ice Cream’, has not always been the sweet music maker he is today. Like a lot of artists, he has tasted his fair share of bitter experiences. Born into a polygamous family in 1986, DJ Ice Cream is the 7th of 9 children to a mother who died in 1997 when he was barely 10-years-old.
After his mother passed away, DJ Ice Cream went to live with his elder sister who quickly engaged him in child labour. Upon learning this, his father took him back and catered for his education up until secondary school. It was while he was with his father that he was directly exposed to music. He joined his local church choir where he was both a worship leader as well as a drummer.
He practised and perfected the art of disc jockeying while doing shows and events in Lagos, Abuja and Jos, both as an apprentice and as a solo act. It was while he was shuffling between jobs in Abuja and Jos that he was issued a Student Visa to China, after being declined about six times.
He chose the name DJ Ice Cream shortly after arriving in China because the Chinese couldn’t properly pronounce ‘DJ Nicholas’ which was his initial trade name. It was his friend who noticed his love for Ice Cream that asked him to adopt the name ‘DJ Ice Cream’.
He is also known in some circles as ‘DJ Lick’ and ‘Licky Licky Master’. Ice Cream started DJing back in 2006 in Nigeria and then moved to China in 2011. He now shuttles his time between Guangzhou and Jinzhou.
The sweet tooth DJ holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Trade/Economics from Bohai University of China. In the year 2018 DJ Ice Cream featured Real and Seyi Shay on his song ‘Up Nepa’, produced by Finni Beatz and mixed by Suka sounds. In 2019, he released ‘Kpa’ featuring Mitch, a China-based artist, and ‘Rolly baba’, produced by Finni Beatz and mixed by Bmyne Sounds.
In 2020, he took his music international again when he released ‘MODS’ (Money Over Dumb Shit), featuring American trap artists Eyes, Been Rich Dixon and Irv, Produced by Finni Beatz and mixed by Gee, a Canadian mixing engineer.
According to DJ Ice Cream, he looks forward to doing a song with Wizkid, Davido, Kizz Daniel, Tiwa Savage, Mz. Kiss, Migos and Tory Lanez which, for him, would be the sweet cherry on the top of a savoury resume.
