George Lopez (born October 23, 1966), known by his stage name DJ Keoki or Keoki Franconi, is a Salvadoran-American

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

ian, among other genres, DJ. Born in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

and raised in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, Keoki began advertising himself as "superstar" shortly after moving to New York City.

Biography

Keoki Franconi was born in

but moved to

Kihei Kihei ( haw, Kīhei, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 21,423 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Geography Kihei is located at (20.759122, −156.45722 ...

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

, when he was 8. After graduating from Kailua High School he moved to the mainland to study at an airline school in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Franconi then enjoyed a brief career with several airline operations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, among them the now defunct

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

, while also being a busboy at the city's trendy Danceteria club. It was at Danceteria that he got his start:

Club Kids and Michael Alig

While in New York, he met and began a romance with Michael Alig. Alig rose to international notability as the head of the Club Kids, a group of diverse partygoers who would dress in costumes each night and form parties in New York and all over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Dance music writer Jennifer Warner remembers, While DJing at "Disco 2000", Alig's party night at the Limelight, Franconi was alleged to have passed out on the turntables while performing a set. He has completely denied the allegation, supposedly having stated: "I guarantee you that never fucking happened".

Superstar

Franconi had a successful career during the late 1990s and early 2000s as Superstar DJ Keoki; he released a number of CDs over that decade and was hired to play for thousands of people at massive

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

s. In 2006 and 2007, he toured – dressed extravagantly, wearing makeup, and sporting a number of

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

s – in the United States and Europe on the Club Party Monster Tour, a tribute to the film '' Party Monster'' (2003) as well as a nod to the Club Kid scene that shot him into stardom. Keoki still tours and performs at venues such as The Viper Room in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Shag in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Tantra in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

lub Tantra is permanently closed - updated 9-14-2020 VIA Afterhours in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Amazura Concert Hall in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, Hard Rock Cafe in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, and Level II his venue does not existin Scranton, Pennsylvania. He also makes annual appearances in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

at the Gaudi Fest during

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

, and he has played at the Love Parade in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

. Presently he is signed to Moist Music and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

mega-producer Edgar L. Montiels' (aka Decoding Jesus) indie electronica label, Let's Beat Milo Records, based out of Los Angeles. In January 2017, he was arrested in New York City after a man in his apartment died of a drug overdose, when the officers entering his apartment found it contained illegal narcotics. Following the incident, he entered a rehabilitation program and announced the cancellation of all of his upcoming events.

Discography

1991 – ''DJ Keoki Presents Disco 2000'' – Volume One (12")
1991 – ''DJ Keoki Presents Disco 2000'' – Volume Two (12")
1993 – ''We Are One''
1994 – ''Journeys By DJ'' 1995 – ''All Mixed Up''
1996 – ''Disco Death Race 2000''
1996 – ''The Transatlantic Move''
1997 – '' Ego Trip''
1998 – '' Inevitable Alien Nation''
1998 – ''Altered Ego Trip'' (The Remix Album)
2000 – ''djmixed.com/keoki''
2001 – ''Jealousy'' (also released in a Limited Edition 2XCD version with bonus CD w/ exclusive remixes)
2002 – ''Keokiclash''
2002 – ''Misdirected Jealousy: The Remix Album''
2003 – ''Kill The DJ''
2004 – ''The Great Soundclash Swindle''
2010 – ''Talking to Yourself''
2019 – ''Born to Attack''

Depictions in popular media

*He is written about in

James St. James James St. James (born James Clark; August 1, 1966) is a television personality, author, celebutante, frequent collaborator with Mathu Andersen, and former "Club Kid", a member of the New York City club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. St ...

' book, ''

Disco Bloodbath ''Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland'' is a 1999 memoir written by James St. James about his life as a Manhattan celebutante and club kid. The book specifically chronicles his friend Michael Alig's rise to fame, and A ...

'': *He is portrayed by

Wilmer Valderrama Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama ( , ; born January 30, 1980) is an American actor, producer, and television personality. He is known for his role as Fez in the sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), Agustín Madrigal in ''Encanto'', and as Carlos ...

in '' Party Monster'' (2003), a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about James St. James and Michael Alig *He was interviewed in '' Better Living Through Circuitry'' (1999), a documentary about electronic dance music culture *His song "Caterpillar" was featured in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' episode "

Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish' "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish is the twenty-second episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the Unite ...

References

External links

Superstar DJ Keoki on Myspace
*
AllMusic - Biographypatreon.com/keoki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keoki 1966 births Salvadoran emigrants to the United States Club DJs Club Kids LGBT DJs LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people American dance musicians LGBT people from El Salvador American gay musicians Living people Musicians from Hawaii Hypnotic Records artists 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people