Hero1

I think FP just needs to be inspired again..I've said it all along that I think he has lost his confidence and is worrying about what is on trend at the moment...  A week or 2 with Jeff will sort that right out..  

let me get this straight the classic mc who wrote lyrical classics like summertime and brand new funk had a simple edm dance song written by XO Man (no disrespect but who is he?), simply embarassing, maybe will should just hang up the mic, he's looking like a lost rapper...

Ugh. 
He really didn't have any time to just sit down and write a song? It's not even that good and the fact he didn't write it, makes it even worse in my opinion.

This guy, XO Man, says he wrote the song 'Get Lit'. Go to the 11:00 minute mark to watch.
 
 

The scripts never gonna be perfect they just need to decide to do it.

I thought I'd share my experience from a week ago when I finally got the chance to meet Will or at least see him live.
I haven't been on the forums here in a long long time, but Will was here in Australia recently and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try to see him in when it was announced that the morning show, Sunrise was going to have an exclusive interview and meet and greet with the man himself. 
Messaged the boss and told him that I wasn't coming in for that reason and he gave me the all clear. Got on the phone to my best mate and told him what was up and the next morning we were right there at the fence-line waiting for Will to come out.
I took with me a couple of things I was hoping to get signed, including a couple of shirts and a custom made FRESH licence plate. 
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to exchange words with Will or even get a selfie, which some people were fortunate enough to get, however, not all was lost. I managed to get in at the nick of time for Will to sign my licence plate.
To say the least I was beside myself with excitement.
Definitely a bucket list moment for me and I hope I get the chance again to try for a selfie and chat. 
I've attached some pics from the day. I know that some of the pics aren't the greatest of quality but in the heat of the moment it was very hard to get a good picture and try to get things signed and get Will's attention :P.

 

Best one in a while!

jeff seems to do it the right way as i said, that's the greatest resource, hang out for a week and get something done, FOLLOW JEFF WILL!

That's what I wish for. Just drop some music for the love of making music instead of trying to fit into some mainstream category. Drop the songs, drop an album without trying to go multi platinum and 100 million+ clicks on youtube. That's not what I'm waiting for as a fan. I want him to drop some bars on hiphop and break beats along with those jazzy scratches. Just do it! :D

Yeah the music industry is basically dead these days. No one buys music. "Albums" don't even really exist anymore. Kids stream a song they like and that's about it. That's why I can't understand why Will even cares about a "hit song". Just do some JJFP for the longtime fans. 

Hey man - I agree with all that you said.
I don't mind Get Lit as I do enjoy house and some EDM but he's not giving us what we want. We want BARS! Will needs to actually SPIT BARS. Once that happens, he'll get more attention online. I don't care if he wants to experiment, you have to as an artist. Caution in the WIld could've been so much better if it was a full song and if he didn't repeat the same 4 lines or so in both "verses". The Fiesta remix video was pretty dope - imagine if those visuals were used for a proper rap comeback song. 
I've been saying it for years that he's super secretive and insecure about his music...but says one thing and then says something else. He drops L+F saying how much he loves music and then never drops another single or album. In the music industry, if you don't have some recent, it's out of sight, out of mind and in Will's case - 12 years?! Completely out of mind. There's a whole generation of people who didn't know he was a rapper before the movies. 
Another example - back in 2005, he said he was going to do stuff online. Where's the website? He doesn't even have a legit website. How about a soundcloud? He's so out of touch. I don't think he's cared much either about his music career and truth be told - it shows.
One more example in 2015 - "Oh yeah Jeff and I are going to do a proper world tour because we've never done it and its going to be in 2016."  ....We got 2 shows in 2016. Not exactly a tour. 
I get he's the biggest movie star on the planet but give me a break - he doesn't have to make movies another day in his life. If you really wanted to do music - you do it. Don't say we're going on tour and then go sign on for another 2 movies....seriously. This is where my frustration sets in. 
If he wants to be taken seriously again regarding music, he needs to drop bars. Plain and simple.  You don't need to sell records anymore - just do it for the love and people will respond. 

I'm familiar with the story of how Will took "Men In Black " to them. It was funny that they then had to work with Columbia to put "Men In Black" and "Just Cruisin'" on JJ+FP's "Greatest Hits" album. Those singles helped bring the package together (along with Yo! Home To Bel-Air, Lovely Daze, and the Megamix). It makes you wonder what Big Willie Style would have looked like on Jive. Jive had only started dabbling in pop music, so they were still primarily a Hip-Hop and R&B label. Would we have gotten "Big Willie Style" or would we have gotten a JJ+FP album?

I love this interview. The cool thing about Jeff's interviews is that there always seems to be at least one thing we've never heard before.  "Live At Union Square" has been talked about before, but it was good to hear him talk about it, rather than read about it. Hearing him talk about DJ's parties at Philly was kind of funny. I never thought about how the music impacts the behavior of the party.
It's interesting that Jeff is the one who prompted FP to mellow out his delivery on "Summertime," which went on to impact many of his songs since then.  Their exit from Jive is really interesting. It's crazy that they treated JJ+FP so poorly in the end, but didn't make it easy for them to leave. It makes me wonder if Will is so loaded these days that he can simply buy back their catalogue. With Jive being long gone, it truly is only business at this point. 
Lastly, I love that they made it so that you can download the interview.

Yeh Guys. It really is a social media marketing world now. Do whatever you ca

Nicole thanks for pointing me in the right direction to get my T-shirt order changed and for your part in getting Jeff and Will on stage again for the concerts :-)

I like the studio version!

Here are some photos of the JJFP.com crew @ Blackpool! I will write an entire article about the night but I am still processing it. It truly was an amazing concert!
 
 

Here are some photos of the JJFP.com crew @ Blackpool! I will write an entire article about the night but I am still processing it. It truly was an amazing concert!
 
 

Here are some photos of the JJFP.com crew @ Blackpool! I will write an entire article about the night but I am still processing it. It truly was an amazing concert!
 
 

For those that need a brief refresher, let's take it back to the mid-90's. When JJ+FP went on a hiatus after Code Red, Jeff used the money he was making from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and his other endeavors to build his existing production company, A Touch of Jazz. Around 1996, Jeff put together an incredible team of producers that took A Touch of Jazz to a new level. They were unknowns, inexperienced in the industry, but learning quickly and shaping the face of modern R&B/Soul. Next thing you know, they are producing for the Hip-Hop and R&B's finest, both for the mainstream and independently. Millions of records sold and collaborating with the likes of Will Smith, Michael Jackson, and Justin Timberlake.
Carvin Haggins and Ivan Barias are perhaps the most successful and most active group of producers to come out of A Touch of Jazz. They developed Musiq Soulchild, as well as new artist, BriaMarie, as well as producing and writing for Justin Timberlake, Mya, Brian McKnight, Amerie, Joe, Faith Evans, 2Pac, Keisha Cole, Jazmine Sullivan, Jill Scott, Mad Skillz, Dawn Robinson (of En Vogue), Bell Biv DeVoe, and the list goes on. He recently participated in The PLAYlists "Chasing Goosebumps." For those on this board, he was a producer and/or song writer on Will's "It's All Good," "La Fiesta," "Willennium Interlude," and Chocolate Form's "Neutral" off the Wild Wild West soundtrack.
Anyway, a couple of years ago I was able to meet Carvin at BriaMarie's album release party. We've remained friends on Facebook and Instagram.  One of my best friends is an incredible singer. The closest thing I can compare her to is Joss Stone, though she can handle any Adel, Sara Bareilles, Feist, or Civil Wars song too. When Carvin liked a picture of us, I was like "you should hear my friend sing." I later sent him some videos of her singing, asking if he had advice for her, or if he'd want to meet her. He was like "she has a beautiful voice...I'd love to meet her." The cool thing is, he was responsive and followed-up about it with a genuine interest.
Fast forward to today, we met him at Forge Recording Studios.  He was super cool and accommodating. We spent two hours talking about my friend, his journeys in the music industry, and other things.  It was truly a great time with lots of laughing.
The advice he gave my friend was invaluable. She learned in that short period time, what takes many people years to learn. He told here where she needs to register as an artist and how money is made between a vocalist, producer, and song writer. While I've always known the artist makes very little, I was surprised to find that they don't make a sense if they simply sang on the song. ZERO. He did mention how they artist does get paid through Sound Exchange though. He broke down how each song has a watermark, so every time a song is played on the radio or on a TV show, it's captured and the artist is paid. He also talked about the evils of big record labels, who the vocalist truly is a puppet and how most of the money they get ends up having to be paid back to the label since it's essentially loaned to them, then they have to pay the label back, and are set up to be in dept for the rest of their life.
He then talked about his own label. Most of this I already knew, but he was sharing the info with my friend. He talked about how his company's goal is to make good, timeless music that isn't explicit to the point that it will offend anyone. He talked about how he doesn't require artists to pay for things up front and how he works with each artist to tailor a song to them. He talked about how he will learn about the artists he works with by visiting where they grew up, exploring their social media, having long talks with them, etc. He said how his team at the studio all helps each other, works on each other's projects (if needed) and how they promote each other. He then played the new single by Montina.
Let me tell you, there is no experience like hearing a brand new single pumping through the speakers that are in the actual studio it was recorded in. She's from Beyone's camp. Montina is currently going through a divorce, so they are releasing an EP about the pain, followed by an EP of the healing. He also played us a song by Ms. Lynx (I may be spelling her name wrong). She's a female emcee and the new single is coming out in a week or two.
When exchanging email addresses, I gave him props for still using his AOL email address (like yours truly). We started talking about how gmail go hacked a few year ago, and since so many artists email song back and for these days a lot of songs and albums were leaked, put on Napster, and then shelved. He was proud that Musiq Soulchild's didn't leak since he was using AOL.
When he talked about wanting an artist to be themselves, flaws and all, we began talking about  Whitney Houston, who he knew. He talked about how it was the label's mission to make her the perfect pop princess that lead her to drugs. He shot down the idea that Bobby Brown was Whitney's downfall and that it was ultimately her label and her not being able to be herself all those years.
I asked him if the established artists have him send beats out, or if they come to his studio, which is in a nice suburb area outside of Philly. I specifically mentioned Kenny Lattimore. He said artists like Kenny create songs there.  When bringing up the topic if faith, he revealed that he's actually a reverend and that BriaMarie is on the worship team at his church. Needless to say, myself and my friend will one day attend a service.
He also gave us a tour of the studio, going to various studios and booths. Some more intimate and some bigger.  He had frames all over the walls of CD's that had come out of the label. He also had a wall that featured plaques from his work with Will Smith, Music Soulchild, and Jill Scott. Another wall featured artists who had recorded there, such as BriaMarie, Jazmine Sullivan, Ginuwine, members of The Roots, Jon McLaghlin, and many more.
All in all, it was an incredible day. It ended with Carvin saying he did want to work with my friend and that he'd love to have her around as projects were being recorded, to find out more about her, and eventually start on a song.
 

That's so good to hear!! So happy that other guys on the forum will get to experience the show! 
Truly was something that will last a lifetime.
Thanks again Nicole for everything that you've done.. you are literally Superwoman 

Hi everyone, 
First and foremost, THANK YOU ALL for your continued support of JJFP. For those of you that got to come backstage and meet Jeff & Will, I think you felt there genuine appreciation for your continued support over the years. 
Putting these shows together was no easy task. When you try and schedule shows for one of the busiest movie stars in the world to perform with one of the busiest DJ's in the world it is quite challenging to say the least. But we DID IT! 
We are working on bringing the shows to other cities in Europe and to the US. It's just that pesky word - schedule - that seems to be the biggest obstacle. But don't fret! We are going to make more shows happen. And I promise, once I get confirmed dates I'll be sure to report in on the forum so you can all plan accordingly. 
To you guys that I met in Blackpool - it was SO NICE TO FINALLY MEET! 
To all the fans in cities we haven't visited yet, I look forward to meeting you all soon. 
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you! 
 

Even if you don't like the 'sound' of it, Will is actually rapping a very good message in a modern track. I like the lyrics.

A fantastic night of music, insight and friendship. See I been doing this site for some 16 odd years, and I've seen many people come and go, but there are a few who stick with us. That don't need a heap of news, or a new Will Smith or Jazzy Jeff album to roll on by. Y'all know who that is, and that's a family. When I've seen Kev, or Brakes or Jim go see Jeff and have an awesome time nothing puts a bigger smile on my face. Over the years though, as I've seen these photos I've thought, wow wouldn't it be great if we saw Jeff together. So when a trip planned 8 months ago, and a rare UK tour coincide in life, you know it's meant to be.

We all met up early, around 4:00. It is funny that other people have commented how natural our conversation, back and forth and obvious friendship shines through. Sure we've known each other on this site for years, but this was the first time we'd ever met in real life. My cousin Lawrence, Kev's mate Alan, all got the same vibe. My cousin Alison came along, and she suggested a Japanese restaurant right near the Jazz Cafe for dinner. So we made our way over their about 5:30 and Kev & Alan got to have some food they'd never tried before. Bernie joined us which was great. It was Jeff's tour of Australia in 2006 when we first met, and she'd first met Darnell. It was definitely strange not having Darnell there, Skillz, Darnell & Jeff had been touring together for 8 years, you just never imagined him not being there. He always took good care of the fans on this site and you know he will kill the next project or event he's running.

As we had a great dinner-- the food was incredible, we made some unsuccessful attempts to organise the interviews with Cris, Jeff's video guy. Eventually we headed into the Jazz Cafe. When we got there it was 3/4 full, but within half an hour this show was a sellout and they opened up the balcony as the club's small space soon filled out. The vibe was good people, here to have fun with some good music. The opening DJ's played some classic hip hop records, then we were treated to some UK rap legends who performed a few tracks each. Just after 10, Jeff finally took the stage.

It really was a great mix of music from Jeff, current rap hits, back to west coast & east coast anthems, reggae records-- there really was no boundaries in this set. Yeah it even included cheesy 80s hits like Toto's Africa, alongside Touch of Jazz gems like Floetry's Floetic, smells like teen spirit, and classic 80s soul jams. Skillz had the crowd jumping as Jeff went from one music classic to the next. For the JJFP fans we got some old school routines, "I Wanna Rock" & "Live at Union Square." The surprise of the night was he's the greatest dancer into Getting Jiggy Wit It. A pretty easy track for Brakes, Kev & I to rap along to.

The two hours of music flew by, the crowd left sweating, and they slowly left knowing they'd seen one of the worlds best DJ's and had one hell of a party.

After the show we made our way backstage to see Jeff. He hadn't slept in 4 days and was feeling pretty sick but was kind enough to spend a little time chatting. What ensued was a fantastic conversation. See in this room we had Kev, Brakes & myself, our combined knowledge of all things JJFP clicked into gear. Jeff was able to shed some light on many things we'd never known, and the conversation that flowed like THE DJ, was magnificent. For instance when Jeff first saw his son Amir jump in the booth and spit some amazing rhymes, Jeff was forced to look away so his son couldn't see the tears flowing from the amazingly proud father. Or that on the back of 4 months work in the studio on Willennium, how the rap duo was all set to do a world tour before the movie business and Ali, quickly took priority. Little tid bits of information flowed out that filled in the gaps of an amazing career, and gave these longtime fans some amazing knowledge. We were all lucky to be there. As 20 minutes flew by as if it was 20 seconds, we were told Jeff's car was ready, and the club was ready to close.

Kev, Brakes & I headed downstairs to complete our interviews for Cris. Cris had the cameras set up, while DJ Spinone asked us some questions. Interesting questions, like how does Jeff inspire you, or what is so unique about you being a fan. I think we had some good answers so it will be interesting to see how the video turns out. I think it shows the positive effect Jeff & Will's music had on our lives, and we make good cases for going out to see a Jazzy Jeff show.

And that was it. As we hustled out of the club into the nightime drizzle, the time closer to 2am, the trains now closed and few options for Brakes to get back home we all knew we'd had a great night. A great experience, that was a long time coming. Brakes, Kev, I know we are gonna be friends for life. What a great way to hang out and finally see Jeff after all these years. It was all meant to be.