California

Father-Son Duo ‘Beat Junkies' Rock New Generation With DJ School

"I would just bring him to the studio with me every day."

With the Beat Junkies, musical talent runs in the family.

Watch Niko Oroc and it doesn't take long to see.

Music is not just something that gets in his head.

"Sometimes, I feel it's a drum bit in my head or just maybe a song I heard on the radio," said music producer "Niko Beats" Oroc.

It's in his blood.

"There's something about it," he said. "Can't really pinpoint exactly what it is that makes me passionate for it -- but I know if I didn't have it in my life I wouldn't be where I am right now."

The 18-year-old Filipino-American is already making a name for himself as music producer.

His love of music comes as no surprise: His godfather and father both happen to be original members of the world-famous hip hop DJ group the Beat Junkies.

"I have high hopes for him," his father Christopher "DJ Babu" Oroc said. "Hopefully he gets that Grammy I never got."

Christopher works at the "Beat Junkies Institute of Sound" in Glendale.

The group opened its very own DJ school just last month.

"We've been doing it for 25 plus years and up to the date, we are still in love with it, and we want to share that love with the next generation," Christopher said.

He said his son's love of music came naturally.

"By the time Niko turned 2, my rap group ...[signed] at Capitol Records," he said. "We were right in the middle of the ride. I would just bring him to the studio with me every day."

An unconventional upbringing, but he says he also passed along traditional values he learned with his own Asian upbringing.

"I want him to have options, I want him to be well-rounded, I want him to be college educated," Christopher said. "I told him, 'You gotta finish UC and you still gotta help around the house.'"

The University of California, Riverside student took that advice to heart.

"It's taught me that if you're really passionate about something ...that you can reach anything you dream of," Niko said. "But at the same time you have to be responsible with that. Like I have to still be in college and I still have to work a job."

The father and son know they have a unique connection made all the more special through their love of music.

"It's a feeling and a closeness we have," Christopher said.

Learn more about the Beat Junkies on the group's website.

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