Ricky Chopra

Ricky is a true trendsetter, he has been at the forefront of DJ technology and was one of the first DJs to switch to Ableton. His sets are expertly curated and seamlessly sequenced, coupled with over 24 years professional experience and a record collec.. Spend enough time with Ricky Chopra, and you will hear him say “I was there!” To be honest, he really was. Ricky started his DJ career in a time before computers, MP3s, CDJs, and even before house music broke on these shores. In fact, he started buying music in the early 80s and started to DJ professionally in 1987. He started out as a Hip Hop DJ, cutting scratching, back-to-backing and smashing phat hip hop beats. His first breakthrough came when we blagged at slot on the now infamous London pirate radio station Peoples FM, run by a yardy gangster from Kingston Jamaica, so you know he had to bring the funk. The story goes, he was working with a guy who knew a guy that was importing techno records from Detroit, who sorted him out with some fresh tunes, this one night he decided to play a short techno set. After a few minutes the phone rang, it was a guy who said he was was promoting an illegal warehouse rave that night and would he play the 4am slot. Of course, he said yes, and it turned out to be one of the first illegal warehouse raves in the UK. Acid House had arrived in the UK and Ricky was on it like an LA hooker on Hugh. He soon started to play at more and more raves in-and-around London, playing alongside Nicky Holloway, Jumping Jack Frost and Danny Rampling. In fact, he was one of the first DJs playing a new UK variant of house that incorporate Hip Hop beats called Hardcore. He soon became a regular booking at clubs like the Milk Bar, Busby’s, The Astoria and The Buzz Club. (All flats today for the super rich). Under the pseudonym DJ Chops, Ricky started producing tunes. In 1992, he released a genre-defining track for Sony Music’s Faze Two label, it was a reggae-infused remix of Desmond Dekker ‘Israeli