Kansas City Music Blog

In the late '80s and early '90s, the smack-talkin', party-startin' Philadelphia duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince provided millions of young American suburbanites their first introduction to the joys of hip-hop.

credit: nathalie@gunpowder-3.tv

With multi-platinum-selling status and unforgettable songs like "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble," "Parents Just Don't Understand" (which won the first-ever rap Grammy), "Nightmare On My Street" (which, full disclosure, I memorized and performed in a fifth-grade talent show) and "Summertime" - not to mention the ubiquity of the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - Jeff Townes and Will Smith were the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby-style musical-comedy duo for Generation X.

Though even kids today are likely aware of Smith's career trajectory as a Hollywood superstar, only close followers of hip-hop are likely to be hip to what DJ Jazzy Jeff has been doing over the years. Turns out, the guy's kept plenty busy. He's produced and lent scratches to records for a long list of artists including the Roots, Talib Kweli and Rhymefest. He's released two all-original solo albums, one of which, 2007's The Return of the Magnificent, went gold. He's built up a studio and production company in Philly called A Touch of Jazz, which has launched many artists recording careers, including solo Will Smith, and, more recently, Jill Scott.

DJ Jazzy Jeff is playing a free show in Kansas City this Saturday as part of the B-Live Tour, brought to town courtesy of VH1's Save the Music Foundation. Jazzy Jeff will share the stage at KC Live in the Power & Light District as part of an all-star DJ lineup that includes Toronto's MSTRKRFT and mashup pioneer Z-Trip.

I caught up with Jazzy Jeff over the phone from his hotel room in Denver yesterday to talk about his life as a DJ, how it's the feel of music, not the sound, and how if you believe in your music, you should give it away for free. (And to demonstrate that point, Jazzy offers up a mix for free, after the jump.)

The Pitch: How's this tour going so far?

Really good, really really good. This is my third date, and the first two dates were really good.

What did you listen to growing up?

I listened to a lot of old soul, a lot of Motown, a lot of Philly and national stuff very, very early on, and my dad was really into jazz, so I had no choice but to listen to a lot of his stuff, from Wes Montgomery to Jimmy Smith, Count Basie. My brothers were into Motown and also Return to Forever and Weather Report. And by the time I hit around 9 or 10, that was when the hip-hop era was starting, and it was a real big musical melting pot for me. I was listening to a little bit of everything.

Why did you begin DJing?

I used to go to the block parties in my neighborhood. Every Saturday, they'd block off the streets, and when the sun was going down, the street would turn into a dance party. You had a lot of local DJs that you would follow - some big and some small - and when the big guys would come, they'd bring a lot of speakers and stuff. Riding up on my bike, watching the DJ have command over people -- just by the tunes he'd play -- I'd go, "I wanna be that guy."

Did you play any instruments as a kid?

I picked at everything. I played the drums, and I picked at piano, I picked at bass, I picked at violin. It's funny, because the era right before me was the era of the musician. Because my older brother is a bass player, I may have been three or four years off from being the person who played the keyboard in a band, but by the time I hit 10, it was the birth of the DJ, who backed up the rapper and played behind the rapper.

Did dabbling in instrumental music affect your approach to DJing?

Absolutley, not only working or having a little bit of knowldege, but just the big variety of music I was subjected to. I think without me knowing it, I knew a lot about the structure of music - the bars, counting the bars, mixing and knowing things like, "the intro to this is eight bars, and the intro to this is eight bars, and this one's gonna go off right when this one comes on." I didn't go to a school to study music, that's just me.

Who were your mentors as a DJ?

I had some local guys who basically were the big guys in Philadelphia who did all the big parties. I think my first DJ mentor would have to be someone like Grandmaster Flash. He was the first guy who got global attention for being the DJ. Flash is the DJ, and the Furious Five are his MCs. Flash is the glue who holds it all together.

How much of your success and growth as a DJ is due to inspiration and how much is due to technical turntable skills?

Well, I think it was probably 50-50. One of the things I think that has been both a big gift and big curse -- and sounds odd -- is, I never ever practiced. ... Sometimes I would go and DJ in my house for 15 minutes and come up with something cool, but the curse part of that is, I was so spontaneous when I played that I might be doing something that was one of the most incredible things I've ever done and I wouldn't remember it unless I taped myself. ... It's so second nature now. I have a bunch of stuff I can call on.

So you were just a natural at mixing?

Yeah, but that goes back to the knowledge of records and instrumentation. Like I said about the bar structure, you start to feel that a record may be going on too long -- that's something the common person feels but doesn't really understand. They may not know that if they play this record four more bars it'll be too long. Certain records blending together create something special. I'm very big on feel. I think, for me, the feeling of music is more important than the sound of music.

How is playing a club gig now different from how it was 20, 25 years ago?

You know what's crazy? It's almost full circle. When I first started playing, there wasn't a hip-hop DJ, a house DJ, a funk DJ, a soul DJ - you were a DJ. You played all kinds of music. Whatever made people move, you played. As time went on, it became more segregated, and it seemed like people broke off into their own groups - "If I like house, I can't like hip-hop, if I like hip-hop, I can't like house." I was never able to adapt. I come from a place where I would bring four boxes of records with everything from LL Cool J to Miles Davis -- so long as it fit and made the crowd move. What I'm starting to see are a lot more DJs nowadays that use a more open format. I love that. I never in a million years thought I'd be around for it to come back.

So you've always been able to remain eclectic?

I think I was blessed to have early success, because, I think, my musical taste was never questioned. Being blessed to have people who like what you do and always like what you do kind of gives you a bit of an edge. It was hard, though, because when people would ask me for what advice I would have for a young DJ getting started, I had no idea, because the principles I grew up on, I didn't know if they'd stand in those days. Just being original and marching to your own beat, that's what I did.

What are your thoughts about DJs using laptops, Serato and other software-based programs when spinning live?

I'm a Serato user, and I used to DJ for purists who insisted that you had to use turntables and show your skills. I remember when it started to get really hard [to be a turntable purist] because airlines cracked down on how much weight you could carry, and it cost so much, like, to go to Japan, that you couldn't afford it. And then because vinyl sales decreased and record companies began cutting back on how much new vinyl they put out, I started to get scared: "What do I do when they don't press vinyl anymore? What am I gonna do - just keep playing the same old records?"

The invention of Serato saved purist DJs. What was gonna make us obsolete was the record companies. You were gonna be stuck spinning only the records you could get on vinyl. With Serato, the only thing it does is allow a DJ to carry his whole collection with him. It doesn't make him a better DJ. If you suck as a DJ before Serato, you'll suck after. I appreciate being albe to carry 10,000 records in my computer and play eclectic and keep the same skill level I've had for 20 years.

What are some ways you use new technology away from the turntables - for example, getting your music out online?

What's funny is, Will and I had a conversation about this a month ago. He said, "Can you imagine if we'd had this technology when we were putting out records?" You can make a record, mix a record, upload it, and a million people can get to it. That's unheard of coming from our school ... I can do something in the studio tonight, and a million people are playing it tomorrow. It's almost like a learning curve of having to adapt your mind to where you have those tools now. As bad as the state of music is, I don't think there has ever been a broader way of getting your music out there. It's almost like we grew up with stoves, and now we're learning how to use the microwave.

Free download (via Zshare): DJ Jazzy Jeff Presents: My Favorites vol. 1

What are you working on now?

It's funny, because I've really taken a lot of time going on the road playing, I'm really enjoying that. I'm making people have a good time, especially at a time when it's hard for people. I think the job of a DJ can be really special - for an hour or two, I can make you forget your troubles, whether it's by playing new music, exposing you to something you haven't heard before, or bringing back old memories.

I'm starting my thought process on working on a new recored. It's just really hard sometimes to mix the two [touring and recording]. Sometimes my production brain and DJ brain are on different pages. I may go on the road for a while and then pick a couple of months and hit the studio and let those recording juices flow. Hopefully in the fall.

Your production company, A Touch of Jazz, really seems to have brought the Philadelphia scene together over the years. What advice would you give to hip-hop artists in a town like Kansas City who are looking to build something similar?

What I found is there is immense talent everywhere, so what happens in a lot of places like Kansas City just like in Philly is everybody thinks they need to go somewhere else to make it, when you can gather up the resources in your community and create something and present it to the world. You can make the world march to your beat. Back in the day, if you drove cross country, if you drove from New York to Philly, New York radio sounded different from Philly radio. Detroit had go-go, Atlanta and Miami ... everywhere had a different sound. Radio becoming controlled by big conglomerates has caused places to lose their identity. Out of the necessity that we weren't being accepted is how we came up with what we did in Philadelphia. ... If you get together and make your music and pass it around and create a viral effect, you can make the world march to your beat.

What advice would you give a young rapper who's just hooked up with a young DJ and they're wanting to get their music out to the world?

The one thing I will say is surround yoruself with honest people. Don't surround yourself with people who like everything you do. If you suck, you need to have people around you who will tell you that you suck. Get your stuff to as many people as you possbily can. Everybody wants to sell their stuff and make money, but would you rather sell a CD to 10,000 people or give it away to a million? If you believe in your talents, give it to everyone who you think will like it - that's what starts the virus. You give it to people for free at first, and they'll demand more. Once you get your fanbase, they're gonna like everything you do. What I tell people is, if you believe in your talents, give it to everybody.

DJ Jazzy Jeff on the B-Live Tour presented by VH1 Save the Music, feat. Z-Trip and MSTRKRFT. Saturday, June 6, at KC Live at 9 p.m. Free admission. 21 and up.