DISC JOCKEY ARIF COOPER IS DEAD

JAMAICAN DJ ARIF COOPER

March 6, 2023 | By Colin O. Jarrett |

Renowned Radio broadcaster and music producer Arif Cooper died while playing at a party in St Andrew early March 5. Culture and Entertainment Minister Olivia Grange has joined the outpouring of grief and shock over the passing of the disc jockey.

Arif; who was playing at an event at the Police Officers’ Club on Hope Road in St Andrew, reported not feeling well and collapsed shortly after. He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Grange said she is “deeply saddened” and that Cooper will be “sorely missed”.

“It is so sad that another of our outstanding personalities in the music industry has left us suddenly and at such a relatively young age,” the minister said, upon learning of the news.

“We saw Arif following his famous father, Michael ‘Ibo’ Cooper, a founder of Third World Band, into music and making his own name here in Jamaica and on the international scene where he entertained audiences in a number of United States cities and in Japan. Arif’s versatility was one of the huge features of the man and was greatly admired by his colleagues in the music industry, especially those whose careers benefitted from his talent, and by his fans,” she said in a statement.

Up to his death, he was a DJ and broadcaster at FAME FM, a radio station in the RJR GLEANER Communications Group.