Most DJs only have the one market where they are recognized, that one place where the mere mention of their name or whips the crowd into a frenzy. If they’re lucky, they get invited to guest in another. Elijah Otalor, DeeJay0213 to the crowds who’ve danced to him, has spent 17 years building his career across three countries: Benin Republic, Nigeria, and the UK,. “ It feels insane when I think about it sometimes. But it is the kind of education that has actually changed my views on a lot of things, and one that not just every DJ but every performer or creative to experience. Each of Nigeria, the UK and Benin Republic has taught me something different about how the music industry works and has helped me grow as a versatile DJ, » he says.
Maybe he was thinking of it at the time or maybe not, but becoming a known name in three different industries on two continents, and more so in two countries on the same continent which may be neighbours but are totally different in terms of language, culture, music genres and markets will change anybody’s self-image and how they perceive their brand and Elijah Otalor was no different.
Nigeria: The School of Range
Home turf comes first, and for Otalor, Nigeria was where the fundamentals of his craft got built. « In Nigeria, I learnt to be versatile and adapt to different audiences, because as a DJ you get every invitation from weddings to concerts, corporate events to nightclub invites, » he says.
“If you are a DJ who can only read a nightclub crowd in Nigeria, you will starve. As DJ, you must be able to move fluidly between a wedding reception, a corporate function, and a 2am club set, three audiences with almost nothing in common except that they’re all sizing you up and waiting for you to fail.” That is building a different kind of skillset entirely: range under pressure, across formats most performers outside that market never have to master simultaneously.
Benin Republic: The School of Connection
Benin Republic is the least obvious stop on that list. Because of the differences in language and culture, it is a market few Nigerian DJs treat as a serious destination rather than a curiosity. For Otalor, it became something else: a lesson in regional and cultural connection that Lagos could or the rest of Nigeria could not teach him.
« In Benin Republic, I’ve gained insight into the local culture and music scene, which has helped me connect with diverse audiences, » he says.
It’s a smaller sentence than the other two, but it may be the most important one. When one considers that Benin, feeds into a wider Francophone Africa market that includes Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, a different market that has its own different languages, different genres its own audience, its own expectations, and its own way of structuring its music industry. One begins to appreciate Elijah Otalor’s willingness to actually learn how to work the space rather than try to impose a style built for somewhere else.
The UK: The School of the Open Format
Cross the ocean, and the lesson changes. In the UK, Otalor experienced the diaspora nightlife scene, a space shaped by decades of overlapping migration, genre-blending, and audiences with wildly different musical reference points. That experience he sharpened something more specific that has become part of his craft, the art of the open-format set.
« In the UK, I’ve developed my skills in open format DJing, blending different genres seamlessly, » he explains.
It’s a technical skill, but it points to something bigger about what the UK diaspora scene demands of a DJ: fluency across genres and cultures in real time, with no room to lean on one sound for an entire night. If Nigeria taught him to adapt between events, the UK taught him to adapt within one sometimes within a single song transition.
Versatility as the Actual Product
In line with the three answers up next to each other, a pattern emerges that says more about Otalor’s career than any single achievement could. He isn’t collecting passport stamps to just brag about his “global-DJ résumé” and the countries he has performed in. Each market has functioned as a distinct training ground, and the resulting skill set, range, open-format fluency, and cultural connection, is part of what makes him who he is. It is the blend of experiences that the thing that travels with him from booth to booth more reliably than any single genre or sound could.
« Each market has taught me something different and helped me grow as a versatile DJ. So when I consider myself a global brand, it is not an empty boast. I have straddled markets and continents, and I have the receipts. » he says again, almost as a summary of the whole conversation. It reads like a modest line. It’s actually the closest thing to a mission statement Otalor has offered, not a claim about where he’s played, but about what three very different rooms, on three different sides of an ocean, made him capable of doing.
The Encore That Matters More Than the Set
For Otalor, known to dancefloors as DeeJay0213, seventeen years behind the decks have redefined what success actually means. The hunger that drove him from Lagos to Cotonou to Lagos remains, but the target has shifted. « Back then, seeing a dance floor full of people and knowing they were enjoying my set was enough, » he admits. But today, with a calendar full of bookings, he measures success differently. « It’s less about the number of bookings and more about the impact I have. I want people to leave an event feeling that they experienced something special. » His version of legacy isn’t the usual end-of-career reflection artists indulge in when retirement beckons. « Far from it. I love what I do; I can do it for another fifty years. » He’s building it now, mid-flight, weaving mentorship, cross-market collaboration, and music production into the same design.
Legacy as Infrastructure, Not Just Memory
What Otalor wants the record to show isn’t the size of the crowds or the number of awards, though he still enjoys those. « Twenty years from now, I don’t want the biggest thing people remember to be how many crowds I played to, » he says. « I want them to remember the people I inspired, the connections I created and the culture(s) I helped represent. » More strikingly, he wants to be « usable » to the next generation. « The African creative space already has enough celebrity success stories people admire from a distance, but whose methods are inaccessible. I want someone starting today to look at my journey and think, ‘If he can build a career from his passion and keep going for 17 years, I can do it too.' » For Otalor, the encore he’s working toward isn’t one more song, it’s what’s still playing after he’s left the booth.
The Gap Talent Alone Cannot Close
When asked what the African music industry needs to fix to become a global talent hub, Otalor doesn’t hesitate. « For me, the next step is not proving that African creatives have talent, we’ve already done that, over and over again, » he says. « What we should focus on now is building the systems, brands, businesses and networks that allow that talent to compete consistently and sustainably on the global stage. » Having played consistently across Benin Republic, Nigeria, and the UK, he sees the same unfinished business in every market. African DJs and creatives have the talent to compete globally, but they’ve been stuck on « create good music » long after the rest of the world has moved beyond the music itself to everything that happens after it’s created, the packaging, the promotion, the protection. That, he believes, is where the real gap has been hiding.
Five Shifts That Would Change Everything
Otalor offers five practical pivots. First, build stronger personal brands because talent should be recognisable, but so should identity, story, and vision. Second, treat professionalism as infrastructure, not personality. « If we want international promoters, brands and festivals to take us seriously, we have to operate at an international standard. » Third, collaborate beyond familiar circles, countries, and genres because that creates new sounds, new audiences, and new opportunities. Fourth, own the story and the intellectual property. « African music and culture are influencing the world, and creatives need to make sure they’re building sustainable careers from that influence rather than simply providing the culture for others to commercialise. » Finally, stop waiting to be discovered. « We can create, promote and distribute our work globally ourselves, » he says. « The world is watching now, » he adds, but that line lands less like a celebration and more like a deadline, a reminder that attention without infrastructure is a moment, not a career.
The text was translated by Mr. Mohamadou MAMA, an English translator and Trainer, and community development agent.
Email:[email protected]
Phone: +229 0162874787
Kandi, Benin republic.
Mohamadou MAMA was born on January 1, 1987, in Kandi. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in linguistics from the University of Abomey-Calavi in the Benin Republic. He completed his translation training at the Alliance Française in Takoradi, Ghana; and at Golden Opportunity in Cotonou, Benin republic.
