Omar Santana

by John Bush
A breakbeat producer since the days of Arthur Baker and Jellybean, Omar Santana has been the leader in a distinctly American brand of psychedelic breakbeat acid-techno under dozens of aliases including Hard Hop Heathen, Liquid Metal, Dark Side of the Shroom, New York Terrorists, Car Jacker, Tales from the Hardside and Wizard of Oh. Santanas early career was spent working on mix production and editing for acts ranging from Debbie Harry to Dynamix II as well as work at Cutting Records, the seminal freestyle label that also featured the talents of Todd Terry and Tony Freestyle Butler.
By the turn of the 90s, Santana had crossed over to the emerging acid house and rave crowd with hits like Mr. Dynomite as Liquid Metal, Slamma Jamma as New York Terrorists and Boy Is Banging as DJ Oh Oh Omar Santana. His trademark hardhop style of acid breakbeat techno became common currency on Americas West Coast by the late 90s, and Santana helmed several mix albums for Moonshine Music including Tricked Out, Hardhop Tricked Out and Battle for Planet of the Breaks. Santana has also compiled hardcore/gabba compilations for Moonshine, including 1998s Hardcorps. He frequently records with fellow breakbeat master Freddy Fresh (as Imperial Stormtroopers). Two years later, he released Hardcore for the Headstrong.