MC OJ and Rhythm Slave

aka Otis Frizzell, Mark "Slave" Williams


MC OJ and Rhythm Slave arrived with the first wave of New Zealand hip-hop in the late 80s. They were white kids from Ponsonby who were unafraid to get up in front of any crowd and get it moving.

The party raps on their first album were hard to take too seriously, but they won the respect of their peers with their relentless enthusiasm for hip-hop. Their reputation was solidified when they hooked up with producer DLT and began doing heavier, reggae-influenced tracks as Joint Force. Yet after one EP, the pair largely retired from MCing and moved onto other projects, even while continuing to draw inspiration from the hip-hop culture that they loved.

1990
Photo credit: Photo by Murray Cammick
Body Rhymes (Protect Yourself) - MC OJ and Rhythm Slave front page on the Auckland Star, May 30, 1991
1992 Doys In The Hood party with MC OJ & Rhythm Slave, Teremoana, Projector Mix, Leaders Of Style, Colony, Stinky Jim, Moana & The Moahunters and others, Symonds Street, Auckland
Joint Force - Otis Frizzell, Mark 'Slave' Williams and Darryl 'DLT' Thomson
Photo credit: Photo by Greg Riwai
Otis Frizzell with artwork, Sydney 1990
Otis Frizzell, Mark Williams
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
Rhythm Slave and OJ, with MC Sole-E in the background
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
Interview with DLT, OJ & Slave - Joint Force, 11 May 1995. Directed by Ross Cunningham.
Mark "Rhythm Slave" Williams live outside Marbecks, Queen Street, 1991
Otis Frizzell artwork, Sydney 1990
Joint Force - Burntime
MC OJ & Rhythm Slave live
Joint Force with Danny D, Roger Perry, Mark 'Rhythm Slave' Williams (back), Otis 'MC OJ' Frizzell (front), Fred 'Jazz Man' Harrison, and Darryl 'DLT' Thomson
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
Mount Maunganui, January 1992
Photo credit: Photo by Murray Cammick
Joint Force doing the stuff they were famous for
On stage times, De La Soul, Auckland Town Hall, 1991
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
MC OJ & Rhythm Slave, Mount Maunganui, January 1992
Photo credit: Photo by Murray Cammick
It's Hammer time!
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
Live at The Powerstation 1992
Early Otis and Slave
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
Money Worries
Rhythm Slave, MC OJ
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
Monitor, May 1991
MC OJ & Rhythm Slave at Mt. Maunganui, January 1992
Photo credit: Photo by Murray Cammick
Joint Force - Static
MC OJ & Rhythm Slave supporting MC Hammer, March 1991
Interview with MC OJ & Rhythm Slave, Otis Frizzell & Mark Williams, 1994. Directed by Ross Cunningham.
Otis and Mark on Base FM, Auckland mid-2000s
Labels:

Southside Records


BMG

Members:

Otis Frizzell - MC

Mark Williams - MC

Hallelujah Picassos - MC OJ and his boots / Picassos Core
Trivia:

Bobbylon from Hallelujah Picassos sang the choruses of two tracks on What Can We Say? When the Picassos heard Otis rapping about his Dr Martens, they responded with their own track, MC OJ and His Boots (off their 1993 album Drinking With Judas).

Since 2006, Mark Williams has been regularly performing live with Fat Freddy’s Drop. He also directed a number of their videos and their DVD, Fantastic Voyages, and has helmed music videos for Ladi6, Tiki Taane and Bulletproof.

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