MC Opi
MC Opi
Background information
Birth name	Janette Oparebea Nelson
Born	(1971-04-10) April 10, 1971 (age 53) Chelsea, London, United Kingdom
Genres	Hip hop, Dancehall, Dub, Trip Hop, Electroacoustic, Experimental, Dark Ambient.
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar, drums, piano, celtic harp
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Mushroom/EMI Australia, Polygram, Wintrup Germany
Website	opinelson.com

Janette Oparebea Nelson, (born 10 April 1971) known by her stage names MC Opi^[1] and Opi Nelson,^[2] is a multi-instrumentalist, spoken word artist, music and documentary producer.

She is most known for being the first female Hip Hop and Dancehall artist to receive national recognition in Australia for her performances with Christine Anu^[3] and Paul Kelly^[4][5] on there 1994 ARIA nominated 'The Last Train'^[6][7] and she was also a writer and guest performer on the award winning 1995 ARIA Best Indigenous Release 'Stylin Up'^[8][9].

Nelson was an underground Hip Hop, Dancehall and Dub poet and producer who rose to prominence when discovered by Christine Anu's manager Rob Barnum, whilst acting in a cast of eight, alongside Christine Anu and Barry Otto^[10] (AFI Awarded Australian actor), in the 1993 musical theatrical production The Trials of Brother Jero ^[11] written by Nigerian Nobel Prize playwright and activist Wole Soyinka.^[12]

Before 'The Last Train's' success in 1994, she was known for her work in Australian hip hop TV and radio. She was the first hip hop artist to be a reporter and assistant producer on the first Australian dance music show SBS TV's 'MC TEE VEE'^[13] and Alternative Arts Show 'The Noise'^[14] (produced by one of Australia's prolific TV producers, Annette Shun Wah^[15]). Nelson's MC Tee Vee interviews included The Beastie Boys,^[16] Lucky Dube,^[17] and others.

In 1990, at the age of 19 years old, she co-produced, with Jaslyn Hall^[18][19](Triple J^[20] and Womadelaide^[21] producer), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio documentary 'Women on the Rhyme' the first ABC radio documentary about Australian female hip hop artists. This documentary featured interviews with Charlene (Def Wish Cast), NO.1 Jamaican & US female Dancehall artist Shelly Thunder, New Zealand Hip Hop Group Moana and the Moahunters and others.

Early life and Family

Nelson was born in Chelsea, London, United Kingdom and her parents are Australian Indigenous Irish, Sheryl Teehan and West African Ghanaian, Jeff Nelson.

She grew up amongst London's social and racial tensions as well as London's punk rock and reggae music scenes in the 1970s. In 1976, when she was five years old, she went to the Notting Hill Carnival with her mother, which later that day erupted into the 1976 Notting Hill Riot. Her parents divorced during these turbulent times. In 1979 she left Britain with her mother to live in Sydney, Australia.

Nelson's niece is MZ Porsche,^[22] one of the first female West African Ghanaian Hip Hop artists to achieve national recognition in her country and like Nelson, she is a multi-instrumentalist and entertainer.

Collaborations

In 1992, Nelson taught DJ skills to women at the Australian SCRATCH Women DJ workshops which were run by Vicki Gordon

Around this time she wrote a song 'Her Exhibition' which she gave to Alannah Russack (singer and guitarist, The Hummingbirds) to perform.

Late 1993, Nelson was spotted by Tracey Moffatt. Moffatt invited her to be an assistant director and have a role in the notorious INXS 'The Messenger' video which was part of INXS's 'Full Moon, Dirty Hearts' Album.

In 1994, after her 93' guest performance on Christine Anu's debut single 'Last Train', Nelson collaborated further on Anu's debut Album 'Stylin Up'.

In the same year, Nelson also collaborated with David Thrussell (SNOG and Black Lung), Russell Kilbey (The Crystal Set), and Dare Mason on the mini EP ''Get Lost' Sex Industrie, Polygram Australia.

Re-emergence 2000 to 2011

In 2000, Nelson was working as a Jupiter Media representative at the 2000 New York Jupiter Plug-in^[23]. Later in 2000, when she returned to Australia, she began producing her solo industrial project 'Jezebel Complex' which Australian Broadcasting Corporation Producer, Tim Ritchie, played on the ABC National Radio show 'Sound Quality'.

In the late 80s and early 90s, she had worked heavily in analogue reel to reel music and radio production and in 2000 had began transferring her analogue production knowledge into digital production for her 2008 solo project 'The Black Hole Lovers', whilst working at a number of Australian universities e.g. The University of Sydney, The University of New South Wales, Sydney's University of Technology and others.

In 2009 she studied the MDM (Masters, Digital Media) at COFA, The University of New South Wales, Australia and received distinctions in her core subject 'Sound Design.'

2012 to present

Late 2012, Nelson left Australia and returned to her birthplace London. In 2013, she continued to work on her solo music project 'The Black Hole Lovers', whilst working at The University of Cambridge, Oxford University and The University of London.

She has recently returned to one of her former occupations TV production, her web TV show 'DotsWaves TV' is scheduled for late 2014, and showcases Noise, Graffiti, Street, Music and Digital Hybrid artists around the globe.

Notes

External links

• Official website

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