You can find my music videos on my Youtube Channel on youtube.com/herdianmohammad

Biography:

Herdian Mohammad also known as HerdiOflo also known as OFLO was born in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 28, 1980 approx 6:00 am. He spent 7 years of his life in Cijantung II, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia where in 1987 he and his family flew to the Midwest of the United States of America to follow his family and father on continuing his father’s further education.

Living in the Midwest, he grew the love of basketball the culture of Hip Hop, mainly Rap music. His writing skills as well as his love of the sport of basketball pushed him to exceed the limits and chase after his childhood dreams of playing basketball and becoming a Hip Hop Emcee/Rapper as a true profession.

After returning to Jakarta, Indonesia in 1998, he first captivated one of his dreams where he inked a multi-year contract with a local semi-pro basketball team of Indonesia Muda Texmaco competing in the so-called KOBATAMA back then (as it was called the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL), then the National Basketball Leauge (NBL) and now back to the IBL). He has been featured in numerous magazines (Hai, Pertama, Gadis, etc), Sports Tabloid Media (Bola,Go,www.basketindonesia,etc.), Radios (Prambors, MTV sky, ARDAN, Radio Palembang,etc.), Television (RCTI, SCTV, Global-TV,etc.) as he has been visible in the National Basketball podium of National competition. His skills on the court dazzled fans nation wide of his versatile dribbling skills as well as his off-the court friendly attitude which gave him the respect he deserved. He grew his fan base at an enormous speed when he was selected in the 2002 Indonesian NUVO KOBATAMA All-star team as well as being elected as the first Professional Indonesian Basketball player to join the dazzling & entertaining team of “Freestyle Basketball Indonesia”, “Freestylers”.

Herdi’s Hip Hop Emcee exposure came in 2002 during a local press conference of the Nuvo Kobatama All-Stars in Bandung, where he fascinated reporters, and fans as he demonstrated his skills as a Hip Hop “Rapper” in front of the large gathering in Bandung Super Mall (BSM). From that moment on, he is known as a basketball player with numerous talents such as half-time entertainer in the Freestyle Indonesian Basketball team as well as a Hip Hop “Emcee” climbing up in the local Indonesian Hip Hop scene. He has performed at local clubs, school events (pensy), product launches, birthday celebrations (ex.GADIS, etc.), opening act for Too Phat at Cilandak Town Square, performing on Global TVs “Lets Dance,” as well as huge performances on live television (Global-TV) in front of thousands in the 2005 A-Mild IBL FINAL FOUR Halftime show as well as in the 2005 halftime show of the A-Mild IBL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES in Hall-A Senayan. He was also the voice of the jingle of the L.A. Lights Streetball 2007 as he took first place in the L.A. Lights Streetball emcee contest. And in the same year of 2007, he toured to 6 cities across Indonesia to promote his EP album while being selected in the 2007 Amild IBL All-Star Roadshow.  In early 2008, it turned out to be an also fascinating year touring 9 cities around Indonesia and also being selected as an IBL All -Star in the 2008 Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) All-Star Game. From 2008-2010 he focused on his Masters degree while changing professions in the corporate office where HerdiOflo finally earned his Masters Degree (S2) in General Management from IPMI Business School Jakarta in 2010.

HerdiOflo, being a familiar name in the local Hip Hop scene of Hip hop Indonesia, is one of the most anticipated, labeled,”BALLER-EMCEE turned CORPORATE-SCHOLAR”, to release his music and sounds in the growing genre of Hip Hop in the local Indonesian Music Industry.

You can check out and download his mixtapes and album on the Downloads section or subscribe to his Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/herdianmohammad

Short Interview:

How did this all start?
I’ve been writing poetry and listening to Hiphop music ever since I was in elementary school as I never really thought of putting the two together to begin a music career in Hiphop. I’ve been a basketball person for as long as I remember as I have spent my days polishing my jumpshot, increasing my dribbling skills and all that needs to be accomplished for a successful basketball player. I successfully signed a multi-year contract at the age of 18 to play in the proffesional basketball league of Indonesia. I would write on my days off from practice as I would occasionally lace rhymes on my computer. I began to take Hiphop to a more proffesional level back in 2002 after my late mother, Hermien Widjajanti – R.I.P – passed away due to Cancer. I was faced with dark nights as I turned daily on my writing and self thought to heal all the pain within me. I continued to write rhymes and recording my sounds on my computer.  I then started performing across Indonesia on my off season anywhere I could to get exposure and experience in the Hiphop game. As I came across many talented Hiphop producers throughout the past years, I knew my destiny is pursuing this Hiphop to the fullest. As I am no longer a professional basketball player, it is time to unleash the magic.

Why the name HerdiOflo?
When I first started flowin’ on the mic I had a dificult time of finding a name for myself as I was mostly emphasising on my production and lyrical skills. I had not put much thought in a name. In 2003 after recording a CD with american producer Marcus Williams, he gave me the name HerdiOflo – which stands for “Herdian Of Flows,” because – my rhymes flows smooth and sway like water.

What are your Hiphop goals?
My goals in Hiphop are establishing myself as an emcee with a unique flavor in the game as well as being one of the Hiphop cats in Indonesia to go international. I feel that getting access to music in the southeast asian region is so easy due to piracy, that musicians these days need to step up their game and create something fresh from the oven. I think one of the measurements of success would be an artist having die hard fans from their own country as well as other countries around the world.

Share to us your Hip Hop journey?
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been writing rhymes since my elementary days as writing and music was a big part of my personal life. To fast forward a bit, I tried to further my music career by lacing rhymes and recording my flows on my computer in search of music producers who might be interested in working together. I shopped my demo around everywhere I could and finally in 2003, an American music producer by the name of Marcus Williams agreed to start a music project together. At the time, he happened to reside in Bali where we worked out a deal as we laced 10 songs that would be released in the US. It was the stepping stone of my music career as when I flew back to Jakarta, I was picked up by the manager of “Freestyle Basketball Indonesia”, Bang Jul Khaerudin – “The Godfather Of Indonesian Streetball”, whom agreed to conceptualize a new concept of shows where I would flow on the mic with my partner name Subhan; who is currently a rising model, movie star & commercial artist; as we kicked open every ‘Freestyle Basketbal Show’ with the two of us flowing on the mic.  It was such a good experience as it exposed me to perform in front of hundreds and at times even in front of thousands. From there really kicked start the momentum of my music career which lead to the formation of HollaBack Family and into meeting so many Indonesian producers.

Any last messages for any aspiring Hiphop talents in the southeast asian region?
My single word that I can give ya’ll would be “Perseverance” – without that your’re bound to go nowhere if you decide to quit due to obstacles. The Hiphop market is so over crowded with talent and if you don’t believe in yourself – nobody will! So keep on pushing it and fulfill your dreams. Don’t let them haters bring you down. It should only bring you up. “Say haters, we love you, say haters we love you..” – Sweet Martabak ‘Ada Sumur Di Ladang’ (Rapvolusi) –