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The journey of rapper, singer, songwriter Optikz, once littered with unresolved complex childhood trauma, multiple addictions and mental, emotional and physical health issues is now paved with songs of hope, courage, inspiration and honest, raw reflections of trauma and healing.

 

Born February, 21, 1983 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Darren Piper and his family moved to Guelph, Ontario, Canada in 1990. As a young teen he struggled to figure out where he fit in and found acceptance and connection in the skateboarding, partying and hip hop, namely breakdancing communities. A severe skateboard injury to his right ankle, along with a lower spine disorder, forced him to have two major reconstructive surgeries and put an end to his dreams of a skateboarding career. As he recuperated, he found solace in hip hop music and underwent a transformation from b-boy to emcee during which he adopted the artist name Optikz. He then co-founded independent record label, Royal City Records and rap group RCR consisting of himself and emcee’s Sampson, Just-1, Gq Stylez, Gifted, Tytul and producers Nasty Jai, Bishop Li and GQ Stylez, the group performed several shows throughout South Western Ontario, were featured in local news media publications Guelph Mercury, Guelph Tribune, The Ontarion and ECHO Weekly. They opened for IRS, Concise and the Rascalz at the 2001 "Reloaded" tour and in 2002 released their debut album Royal City Records Presents... RCR. Shortly after they disbanded when Optikz decided to leave the label and group to pursue a solo career.

 

Optikz continued to quickly develop his talent for rhyming, singing and songwriting participating in local rhyme cyphers, hip hop open mic events and freestyle battles against other local emcees. In 2004 following the success of RCR he started a new independent record label, Systematix Records and released the singles "Oh No", "Shorty", "Big Thinkas", "Area Fifty One Nine Covert Ops", "God’s Of Thunder" featuring Noah 23, "Sky Line" featuring Sarah Sharpe and "Journey Of An Emcee" from his first, independent, underground full-length album "Area Fifty One Nine Covert Ops" produced by Nasty Jai, Bishop Li and Gq Stylez which he released in 2005. Then deciding he needed a new direction in production he recorded and released his single "Coming From The Cold" produced by Juno award winning rapper, producer Classifed. 2006 turned into a watershed year as he graduated from Seneca College’s Independent Music Production Program, won the Magic 106.1 "Royal City Sings" contest and was one of four winners of the 91.5 The Beat "Rhythm of The Future Talent Search". He then opened for Juno award winner and Billboard Hot 100 chart topping artist Snow, Juno award winner and Grammy award nominee K-os and Juno award nominee, Much Music video award winner Jelleestone at the 91.5 The Beat "Hiphoptoberfest" at The Aud in Kitchener, Ontario. He released the singles "Born To Be", "Guelph" featuring T-Dot, "Ontario", "Message In A Bottle", "One Love" featuring Noah 23 & Kozak both produced by Lyve, "Rise Up" produced by and featuring Juno award winning producer Marcus Kane and "Hear You Say" featuring Ayze & Verbal produced by Ayze.

 

In 2007 he released several collaboration singles “Catch A Hater” featuring V-Tek & Natural Instinct, “On My Own Two” featuring Sharky & Foolish Immigrants, “Let Em Know” featuring T-Dot and “Back To Basics” featuring Press & Lyve and in 2008 he started a new independent record label, Lions Heart Records. His career and fan base kept growing with the release of his second independent, underground full-length album, "Focusin" featuring his previously released single “Coming From The Cold” produced by Juno award winning rapper, producer Classifed and singles "We Rock The Mic" featuring Juno award nominee and GMA Dove award winner Manafest, "Break" which the music video for debuted on Much Music and stayed in rotation for several months in 2007, 2008 and "Lets Stay Together" that went number 1 for an impressive 7 weeks straight on Galaxie Satellite Radio's Max Trax The Beat, he also released the singles "Skateboard Kid (DC Boy)", "I’m Free" and "Dear Madchild" featuring GMA Dove Award winner Zamar. He went on to be one of the winners of another top 40 radio contest, the B101 fm “Basement Tapes” contest. He opened for Juno award winner K'naan, Elephant Man and Grammy award winner Nas at the “Hip Hop Is Dead" tour at Kitchener's. Centre In The Square and for Jd Era and Bishop Brigante at the "Welcome To G-Town" urban showcase in Guelph. He performed shows throughout Ontario with local artists T-Dot, Syco, Teknatural, V-Tek, Natural Instinct, Lokust, Sharky and Noah 23 as part of the "Fishy Business" tour and "Business Plan" tour. ​In 2009 he released collaboration singles "Coming From The Cold (Remix)" featuring Sharky, T-Dot & Noah 23 and "Flight 83" featuring Noah 23 & Sharky. Hamilton, Ontario based up and coming rap artist The Emsee featured Optikz on his single "Acknowledge The Rhyme" from his debut album "Reality Check" which received heavy rotation on Galaxie Satellite Radio Max Trax The Beat.

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Although he was gaining recognition and accolades as a rap artist, Optikz struggled with unresolved complex childhood trauma from mental, emotional, physical, religious and sibling sexual abuse resulting in a myriad of mental health challenges and though he found hip hop music as a place to escape, alcohol, drugs and other addictions became his main means of masking all of the pain. Eventually, through drug and alcohol detox, rehab treatment, recovery programs, therapy and a spirituality that works for him, Optikz found himself on the road to recovery. He continued developing his writing skills and in 2010 he created a commercial theme song, "Mark’s Clothes That Work" for the national retailer Mark’s, formerly Mark's Work Wearhouse and was flown to Calgary, Alberta to perform the song at the national Mark’s business conference. He then released the singles "When In Doubt Knock Em Out" featuring T-Dot & V-Tek and "Dirty Dirty". He then released the singles "Shake It Up" featuring Molly K, "Roadside Fisherman", "Paradigm Shift" featuring Nabi & Lokust, "Shooting Star" featuring Peter Howlett & The Emsee, "If Only I Knew", "Small Town Kid" and "Can Anybody See" from his third independent, underground full-length album, "Destiny" in 2011. In 2012 he created a commercial radio ad, "Vegehut" for Vegehut Bakery Ltd. and in 2014 he created the official theme song "Go Gryphs Go" for the University Of Guelph varsity teams the Guelph Gryphons and in 2016 created a commercial radio ad, "Red Scarf Project" for Arch.

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His continuing journey of recovery has led to a wellspring of creativity and inspiration resulting in a new direction in his music career. In 2018 he made the decision to create all of his new songs within the walls of Metalworks Studios, rated Canada's Best Recording Studio an unprecedented 17 years in a row at the Canadian Music Week awards, he began working on his official debut studio extended play "The Optikz EP" and in 2019 released "Love The Child In Me" and "Dark", In 2021 released "So Long Goodbye" and shortly after his single, "Love The Child In Me" placed as a semi-finalist in the 2021 Unsigned Only Music Competition, a finalist in the 28th Annual 2023 USA Songwriting Competition, and was an honourable mention winner in the 2023 International Songwriting Competition. In 2024 he released the single "My Own Lane" and his single Love The Child In Me was selected as an honourable mention winner in the 2024 Unsigned Only Music Competition. Then in 2025 he released his single "Champion". Working on his music in the same studios that have seen major record label artists like Drake, DMX, Justin Bieber, Nelly Furtado and others has given Optikz newfound confidence and inspiration and he feels he’s finally in the right place, where he belongs.

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The teenaged Darren Piper adopted the moniker “Optikz” because before he started to rap he had a natural gifting as a Jack of all trades in the arts and master of each with hyper realistic pencil drawing, painting, film, television, acting and graphic design and because the word “optics” means the study of light and vision and the positive angle on life that it cast. Even in his darkest times, he tried to bring light into the situation. Now, with a renewed vision, he wants to bring music with honest, raw reflections of trauma alongside hope and healing, with his newly-released songs “Love the Child in Me”, “So Long Goodbye”, "Champion" and more. As Optikz says: ​

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“If I had heard a song like "Love The Child In Me", "So Long Goodbye" or "Champion" back when I was 15, that would've changed the course of my life. That's the idea behind most of the songs I am writing for my official debut studio extended play 'The Optikz EP' songs that will inspire others.