View source for DJ Keoki

{{Tone|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Superstar DJ Keoki
| image           = DJ Keoki.JPG
| birth_name      = George Lopez
| alias           = Keoki Franconi
| birth_date      = {{Birth date and age|1966|10|23}}
| birth_place     = [[El Salvador]]
| death_date      =
| origin          = [[Kihei, Hawaii|Kihei]], [[Maui]], [[Hawaii]], U.S.
| instrument      =
| genre           = [[Electronic music|Electronic]]
| occupation      = Musician, producer, DJ
| years_active    = 1980s–present
| label           =
| associated_acts =
}}
'''George Lopez'''<ref name=law>{{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/superstar-dj-keoki-arrested-after-man-fatally-overdosed-in-his-nyc-apartment-7845839|title=DJ Keoki aka George Lopez Arrested in New York After Drug Overdose Death|last=Romero|first=Dennis|date=21 January 2017|website=LAWeekly.com|access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref> (born October 23, 1966), known by his stage name '''DJ Keoki''' or '''Keoki Franconi''', is a Salvadoran-American [[electronic music]]ian and [[Disc jockey|DJ]]. Born in [[El Salvador]] and raised in [[Hawaii]], Keoki began advertising himself as "superstar" shortly after moving to [[New York City]].<ref name="starbulletin">{{cite news |date= December 7, 2001|url = http://starbulletin.com/2001/12/07/features/story1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020808055340/http://starbulletin.com/2001/12/07/features/story1.html|archive-date=8 August 2002|title = Superstar DJ Keoki keeps the party going|newspaper = Honolulu Star-Bulletin| accessdate = 4 November 2014 | last=Gary C. W. Chun }}</ref>

==Biography==
Keoki Franconi was born in [[El Salvador]]. He moved to [[Kihei, Hawaii|Kihei]], [[Maui]], when he was 8.<ref name="starbulletin"/>  After graduating from [[Kailua High School]], he moved to the [[Contiguous United States|mainland]] to study at an airline school in [[California]]. Franconi worked at several [[airline]]s in [[New York City]], among them the now defunct [[Trans World Airlines]].<ref name="famousdjs">{{cite web |year=2007 |url = http://www.famousdjs.com/biographies/keoki.htm|title = Keoki Biography|publisher = famousdjs| accessdate = 2008-03-25 | last= |quote=}}</ref> He also was a [[busboy]] at [[Danceteria]] [[Nightclub|club]] during this time.<ref name="starbulletin"/> That was where he began to start DJing. He recalls,

{{blockquote|I kept bugging a nearby club's manager to, please, please, please let me DJ there. I told him I knew how to do it, even though I only had a small collection of records and one turntable at home.  He let me play a lounge gig on some of the slower nights. He told me to 'play whatever the fuck you want, so long as they stay,' words I've continued to live by to this day.|DJ Keoki|<ref name="starbulletin"/>}}

===Club Kids and Michael Alig===
{{Main|Michael Alig}}{{BLP sources section|date=September 2023}}
While in New York City, he met and began a romance with [[Michael Alig]].<ref name="villagevoice_Musto">{{cite web|date = March 26, 2002<!-- 12:00 AM-->|url = http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0213,musto,33375,15.html|title = NYC Life|publisher = villagevoice|accessdate = 2008-03-22|last = Michael Musto|quote = Alig and his then boyfriend, Keoki,|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080313060912/http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0213%2Cmusto%2C33375%2C15.html|archivedate = March 13, 2008}}</ref> Alig rose to international notability as the head of the [[Club Kids]], a group of diverse people who would dress in [[costume]]s each night and form parties in New York and across the [[United States]].

Dance music writer Jennifer Warner remembers,

{{blockquote|I was marking the side of a mile-high stack of party invites with a huge purple pen and this body appeared, covered in silver glitter, wearing what looked like a diaper and dragging a boy [Michael Alig], also sporting a falling-off diaper, minus the glitter but made up like a clown.|Jennifer Warner|<ref name="starbulletin"/>}}

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, stating that it indeed never happened.<ref name="djkeoki.net">{{cite web |year=2007 |url=http://www.djkeoki.net/ |title=DJ Keoki |publisher=djkeoki.net |accessdate=2008-03-25 |last=DJ Keoki |quote=The 'I passed out on the turntable' story that I have heard forever that never happened. I guarantee you that never fu*kin' happened. |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319133010/http://www.djkeoki.net/ |archivedate=2008-03-19 }}</ref>

Franconi had a successful career during the late 1990s and early 2000s as DJ Keoki;{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} he released a number of [[CD]]s over that decade and was hired to play for thousands of people at massive [[rave]]s.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} In 2006 and 2007, he toured in the United States and [[Europe]] on the Club Party Monster Tour, a tribute to the film ''[[Party Monster (2003 film)|Party Monster]]'' (2003) as well as a nod to the Club Kid scene that shot him into stardom.  During the tour, he was known for dressing extravagantly, wearing [[Cosmetics|makeup]], and sporting a number of [[tattoo]]s.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Keoki toured and performed at [[The Viper Room]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], Shag in [[Denver, Colorado]], Club Tantra in [[Tampa, Florida]], VIA Afterhours in [[Houston, Texas]], Amazura Concert Hall in [[Queens, New York]], [[Hard Rock Cafe]] in [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida]]. {{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} He also makes annual appearances in [[Moscow]] at the Gaudi Fest during [[Halloween]],{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} and has played at the [[Love Parade]] in [[Berlin, Germany]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} In January 2017, he was arrested in New York City after a man in his apartment died of a [[drug overdose]],<ref name=law /> when the officers entering his apartment found it contained illegal [[narcotic]]s. Following the incident, he entered a [[Drug rehabilitation|rehabilitation]] program and announced the cancellation of all of his upcoming events.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://themusic.com.au/news/iconic-90s-dj-speaks-out-on-arrest-after-man-ods-in-his-apartment/HP8PDjEwMzI/13-02-17|title=Iconic '90s DJ Speaks Out On Arrest After Man OD's In His Apartment|date=February 13, 2017|publisher=The Music Australia}}</ref>

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

==In popular media==
* His song "Caterpillar" was featured in "[[Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish']]{{-"}}, a 1996 episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
* Keoki was interviewed for the 1999 film ''[[Better Living Through Circuitry]]'', a [[documentary film|documentary]] discussing [[electronic dance music]] culture.
* [[James St. James]] depicts Keoki in the 1999 memoir ''[[Disco Bloodbath|Disco Bloodbath:
A Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last = James St. James| authorlink = James St. James| title = Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland| year = 1999|edition= August 11, 1999|pages= 2222 | publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn= 0-684-85764-2}}</ref>
* [[Wilmer Valderrama]] portrays Keoki in the [[Party Monster (2003 film)|2003 film ''Party Monster'']], a [[biopic]] about James St. James and Michael Alig.

==See also==
* [[LGBT culture in New York City]]
* [[List of LGBT people from New York City]]

==References==
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{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.myspace.com/superstardjkeoki Superstar DJ Keoki on Myspace]
* {{IMDb title|id=0207998|title=Better Living Through Circuitry}}
* [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p169387 AllMusic - Biography]
* [https://www.patreon.com/keoki patreon.com/keoki]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keoki}}
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century Salvadoran LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:21st-century Salvadoran LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:American dance musicians]]
[[Category:American gay musicians]]
[[Category:Club DJs]]
[[Category:Club Kids]]
[[Category:Hypnotic Records artists]]
[[Category:LGBTQ DJs]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Hawaii]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from Hawaii]]
[[Category:Salvadoran emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Salvadoran gay men]]