Origin The community was founded by
The Roots' drummer
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and author
Angela Nissel as a loose musical collective in 1987, and evolved into an
online community in 1999. In 2004, Questlove launched Okayplayer Records as a spin-off of the community, in partnership with
Decon. After a near-decade hiatus, the label was rebooted in 2012 with
Danny! as its flagship artist.
Community system, reception, and events This community is made up of recording artists (who keep their official internet homes there), visitors to the site, and individuals who post on the site's message board, the most popular feature of the site. All of the artists and staff, as well as those who post to the site's message board, are considered "okayplayers," or "OKPs" for short. Okayplayer was one of the first online hubs through which fans could interact directly with their favorite artists. Okayplayer has been identified as an online community that allows people to bypass traditional media and network with each other. An example of such a collaboration fostered by the site is the
Foreign Exchange project, with
Little Brother's vocalist
Phonte Coleman and Dutch producer named
Nicolay meeting on Okayplayer, and making an album together by sending tracks and verses back and forth over the Internet. The album,
Connected, was released before the pair had met in real life. Okayplayer organize regular tours and an annual
Roots Picnic all day event. == References ==