Rising Stars: Meet Renita “DJ Doop” Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Renita “DJ Doop” Johnson.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My love of music started off by being in the passenger seat of my dad’s 1998 Saab 900 2-door coupe with groups like The O’Jays, Johnnie Taylor, Betty Wright, Keith Sweat, and a number of others being on the soundtrack. My dad, DJ Slick Rick, introduced me to Blues and Funk while my mom’s side of the family naturally gravitated to Gospel, Hip-Hop & R&B from our musical roots. By the time I made it to high school, I began to work high school dances with my dad, playing the latest hits for the younger crowd to keep things balanced.

By my junior year in high school, I was throwing my own parties and playing music for people my age, and that kind of sparked the whole concept of taking DJing a little more seriously. After graduating high school, I continued my high school education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where I majored in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism & Mass Media. During one of my elective classes, my professor recommended that I take a Radio & Television performance class because he felt like I had the personality for it.

After taking the class, I went on to focus on the radio were ended up taking an internship and started my legacy on UMKC’s K-Roo Student Radio station with my first show “Tha Doopster Show” that eventually evolved into “Connected 2 Tha Streetz” where I put my main focus on local artist and producers giving them a platform to engage with the college audience and the club audience that I was tip-toeing my way into.

I became really close with DJ Apsilum my freshman year in college and he helped me learn more about blending and song selection. Around that same time, I started my internship with Kc’s own Hot 103 Jamz as a promotions intern but kind of shadowed every position in the building to get an idea of what I would want to do within the industry. Brian B Shynin took me under his wing when I told him I wanted to take radio more seriously and at the time I was a broke college student working 3 jobs, an internship, and taking summer classes.

After he told me to buy my equipment and he’d help, I came back to the station the next week and had everything I needed to get started. I began as an opening DJ for him at a club called “Empire Room” up until they closed and from there I made it a priority to build my name from work of mouth. In 2018, I became a member of the world’s largest DJ coalition, the Core DJ’s Worldwide where I’ve been featured on a few Instagram live DJ showcases.

As we fast forward to 2021, I became Krizz Kaliko’s official tour DJ after meeting him for the 3rd time in person at a pep dance rally for the Super Bowl and I also did “Friday’s on the Rocks” with Jasmine Saunders, D.L. Hughley’s Mourning Show co-host.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There were definitely some bumps in the road throughout my journey.

I’ve dealt with hearing rumors that I’ve had to sleep with people to get the opportunities I was blessed with, I’ve had to deal with the messy competition with people wanting to downplay me to the hype of their favorite DJs and even as much as being played with up until I show men I can really DJ and not just a button pusher and a pretty-faced girl.

Two of the biggest things I’ve learned along the way were to 1) not take things personally and 2) timing is everything and so is intention and purpose.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I DJ, dance, model, a manager of an artist, and an entertainer. I’m known as a dancing DJ that has finally crossed into the modeling industry.

I’m most proud of finally crossing being a Tour DJ off of my list of goals along with finally establishing my DJing hustle as a registered business now, DJ Doop LLC. I am also proud of the fact that I get to perfect, learn and use all of my talents and enjoy every second of it!

I feel like my personality and vibe set me apart from others. I feel like I am a fun person to be around, I can truly be the life of the party and I would want everyone around me to be the same!

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I like being a loner. I typically love going out but I LOVE my alone time so much more. Most of the time when people go out and enjoy themselves and on the way home to sleep, I’m wide awake with my creative juices flowing!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://linktr.ee/DJDoop
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamthadoopster
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djdoopllc/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/iamthadoopster
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbEsIFwjgFVvpUGN65jLCFg
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/djdoop913
• Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/djdoop913/

Image Credits
Shawn Riddle and Kenneth Ellison of 3 Shots Photography