Nigerian Disc Jockey Breaks Guinness World Record for Marathon Music Mix

Obi Ajunuma, popularly known as DJ Obi, kicked off the month of July with a song – a whole lot of them, actually. On July 1, the award-winning deejay broke the official Guinness World Record for the most number of hours spent dishing out non-stop music from the “wheels of steel.”

To enter the record books, DJ Obi had to beat the previous record set by Polish-born DJ Norberto Loco (real name Norbert Selmaj), who DJ’ed for 8 days in a 200 hours non-stop music relay at the popular Underground temple bar in Dublin Ireland in November 2014.

DJ Obi’s record-breaking music mix officially kicked off on Wednesday, 22 June, 2016 at 11:30pm. He officially equalled and broke Norberto Loco’s record at 7:30am on 1 June; however, he continued to DJ – in spite of sleep deprivation and even hallucinations- to meet his goal: setting a new record of 10 days or 240 hours spent DJing.

DJ Obi won the Nigerian Entertainment Award for “World’s Best DJ” in 2011 and he has been in the business of mixing sounds in the last 8 years.

As the proverbial apple, DJ Obi did not fall far from the tree. His late father, Levi Ajuonuma, was a popular media professional in Nigeria who hosted several entertainment shows over the years, including the Saturday Night Programme, Open House Party, The Sunday Show and Levi Ajuonuma live.

Along the road to breaking the record, DJ Obi has received lots of support and encouragement from many within the Nigerian entertainment industry. Several even dropped by to cheer him on at Sao Café in Lagos, Nigeria, where Obi played his 10-day set.

Even though it is referred to as a non-stop music mix, DJs aspiring to the Guinness World Records are entitled to a 20-minute break after every four hours or a one-hour break after 12 hours. They also get daily medical checks, massage rubs, and plentiful vitamin supplements to make up for the sleep deprivation they suffer on the road to their pursuit of “glory.”