The Tribune

By RALIYAH STUBBS 

AND CHRISTIAN TURNQUEST

Tribune Interns

AT just 11 years old, Jasper “DJ Ovadose” Thomas was hunched over a computer, juggling two YouTube tabs to mimic the thrill of mixing music. To his fifth‑grade classmates, it was fascinating. To him, it was the start of a lifelong obsession.

“I started DJing because I was always in tune with music, man,” he told The Tribune. “I feel like the love for music stemmed from a young age. I remember vividly, in the fifth grade I was interested in music but I wasn’t necessarily into the craft. So I was just using two tabs on YouTube, putting them together pretending like, you know, I’m actually doing something that’s amazing, which probably wasn’t amazing, but at that time, it was fascinating for other people to see it.”

That childhood fascination soon became a career. By the time he hit high school, Ovadose was buying equipment, teaching himself software, and asking endless questions about the craft. Now 24 and travelling the world, he has spent nearly half his life behind the decks.

The name “Ovadose” was born out of that same drive to push himself further.

“My name Ovadose came from my brother. My brother was in school, sitting down in class and he just came up with the name Ovadose because I was always interested in music,” he said. “I always leaned on my brother for creative ideas when it came to events or whatever came from a creative standpoint. I always wanted to learn and be more advanced. It just stemmed from there. I just always wanted to overdo myself in music. So that’s really where the name came from.”

Ovadose built his career by creating his own opportunities, often paying his own way to events just to be in the room with the right people.

“You’ve got to make opportunities for yourself,” he said. “You can’t expect people to come and discover something that they know nothing about. I was a small fry and nobody knew who I was so I had to go and put myself out there. I paid my way to go to events and took a lot of flights and hotels just to be in places to meet certain people. I didn’t get to give my talent out there to people until they started to see me more often and be like, ‘You know what? Let’s give him a chance.’ So I believe in investing, believing in yourself and making a way for opportunities.”

That work has taken him across the globe, performing from London to Bermuda, Grenada to Guadeloupe. Life on the road is thrilling but gruelling.

“It’s rough dealing with climates and time change,” he said. “I travel so much so I get most of my sleep on the plane — the most uncomfortable, but quiet, probably outside of their noisy kids. I try to be in the gym and eat a bit healthier too. I fall short sometimes, but you know, the health aspect of dieting and trying to be active as well plays a big role.”

For Ovadose, every flight and late night is part of a larger mission: to represent The Bahamas and its culture to the world.

“I must say that we have this unique niche about us that is just something so indescribable, honestly,” he said. “I think Bahamians are some of the easiest people to get along with, because they know how to adapt to situations. Even in artistry, we bring that. I think the sound that we bring is very unique, even though it may not be out there as much. It’s something special that I think a lot of people deserve to see.”

Earrlier this month, that mission was recognised at home when Ovadose was officially sworn in as a cultural ambassador for The Bahamas.

The ceremony, held in the House of Assembly’s Minority Room, was led by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg. Mr Davis thanked him for accepting the role, recalling meeting Ovadose as a young boy and praising his musical talent for inspiring a new generation.

For Ovadose, the honour felt like the culmination of years of hard work.

“About four years ago, people were giving me this title of Bahamian ambassador because I was one of the few to really be fortunate to represent our country on an international stage,” he said. “Just throughout those years, I’ve unofficially accepted it, and now today, to see this dream come true is just a blessing.”

And as much as the title belongs to him, he sees it as a win for his entire generation.

“I feel like anybody that has a dream and is doing something great with their life, I feel like this now gives them that hope, that extra push to want to be better, to want to do more,” he said. “I just feel like it’s a win for our generation, because now I’m just motivating people and inspiring them to continue doing what they’re doing, but maybe take it to another level, because now they have that extra push to say, if he could do it, I could do it.”