2008 Woodie Awards
- Page 1 of 1
|
If he has his way, one day in the future Arinze Oruche will be a household name. Oruche, a senior marketing major, says his goal is to one day be the black Howard Stern. "I want to go all the way to the top," Oruche said.
Some of you may already know or have heard of Oruche from his two solo rap albums. Others may have heard his deep bass rumble of a voice during his HotMix 90 show Fridays from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., when he takes over the WISU studio as DJ personality AO. He has hosted 'The AO Show' for the last four years at WISU, though five years ago the Nigeria native said he never would have thought he would one day be seeking a career in radio.
"Someone told me I had a good radio voice," Oruche said. "I knew I liked to talk and knew I liked music, and now I have the best of both worlds."
Oruche's show marks the switchover from the "Real. Good. Rock" of 89.7 to HotMix 90, which features the best of rap and hip-hop all weekend long. While WISU has a computer with a playlist of music to play each show, Oruche said he likes to alter it to suit his listenes' needs.
"The playlist is good; it has a lot of new and older hits," Oruche said. "But I'll change up the order according to requests or the theme of the show."
Usually 'The AO Show' will start off with some slower jams, he said, and then picks up the pace as people get ready to go out or do whatever they're doing that Friday night. A key part of his show, and WISU in general, he said, is the focus on local artists.
"I really try to get their songs out there," Oruche said. "There's nothing better than hearing your stuff on the radio. Being a performer, I know how that is."
But Oruche says music is only part of his show."I bring what I like to call 'pop ups,'" Oruche said. "I have special guests, countdowns, entertainment news and rumors, and I try to inform people of what's going on throughout the weekend at ISU and in Terre Haute."
Every show is unscripted, Oruche said, which is integral to the vibe he tries to maintain every Friday. It's also helped bring call-in guests like rappers Paul Wall, Twista and Pretty Willie.
"I like to call my show the most random in the universe," Oruche said. Controversy is a major part of that randomness, though not the kind of controversy associated with Howard Stern.
Oruche's show features a lot of people calling in and striking up conversations, and Oruche tries to maintain as much of a comedic dialogue from those calls as possible. He also considers the taboo open game.
"I'm not going to have naked women or anything like Stern does," Oruche said. "But I'm going to say what people don't want to or can't themselves." The fans and listeners are a major part of his show, Oruche said. "I love fan mail and phone calls," he said.
Listeners are encouraged to send him an e-mail at aoruche@indstate.edu or to give him a call during the show at 237-3690. He also wanted to stress that WISU is like a family, and said the staff and director of audio operations, Dave Sabaini, were instrumental to his current success and what he hopes will be more future success as well.
"I'm a marketing major, so I want to use the radio to sell myself," Oruche said. "People like Ludacris and Angie Martinez got their start with radio play, and I hope to be like them."
RECENT STORIES WITH VIDEO
Be the first to comment on this story