Jazzy Jeff Interview
Partner in Crime

DJ Jazzy Jeff, known to his mother as Jeffrey Townes, is a legend in hip-hop. He, along with partner in crime Will Smith (aka the Fresh Prince), are counted amongst hip-hop’s first superstars and their Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble and Parents Just Don’t Understand are absolute classics. Many people may think of Townes as the lesser of the duo, but he hasn’t been sitting back on his fat mountain of bling bling from selling over 10 million records doing nothing. He is the founder and head of A Touch Of Jazz, nurturing the careers of a roster of young producers, writers and artists, including the wonderful Jill Scott, and houses them all in a studio complex in the downtown area of Philadelphia.

He is famous for getting his start as a bathroom DJ. “Basically that’s the guy that really gets to play no records or does nothing pertaining to DJing until the main DJ has to go to the bathroom," he laughs. “Then he gets to put a record on, and make sure that the record the main DJ put on doesn’t finish. I was just hoping those guys would stay in the toilet a lot. I used to give them a lot of drinks, lots of water to keep their bladder active.”

His skill quickly developed and got him noticed at parties, and it was at one such party he teamed with Smith. “The guy who was my usual MC didn’t show up, and Will came in, and we knew each other from previous parties, and he just grabbed a mic and things went from there.”

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were well known for using samples of cartoons and old TV shows, such as 'I Dream Of Genie'.

“We got in trouble for a couple of the samples that we used,” he says. “That was early hip-hop days when nobody really understood the sampling laws and what we had to do. But it got to a point where after we got into trouble you start to become wise, and you start to compensate whoever you use.”

Yet some people in the rap game weren’t appreciative of the sounds the duo employed, or the less aggressive take on rap they used, calling them ‘soft’ and equally dismissive names.

“It was when hip-hop started to become multi-dimensional, and just because Will and I chose not to do Gangsta records, or really curse in our records, and talk about shooting and killing anybody, we got criticised, because at the time that [Gangsta] was what was most popular. Now you look at hip-hop and it’s grown in so many ways.”

For someone who is a “superstar”, Townes is quite unpretentious about his work. “I never look at that,” he says of the accolades and so on from his early days.

“I think because I’m so active in what I’m doing now I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the contribution or the credit we’ve got in the past, and I think it keeps me grounded.”

Even being on a high rating TV show doesn’t seem to have overblown his ego. “The exposure was incredible. I’m more recognised by what I’ve done on the TV show than what I’ve done in music,” he says. “But it doesn’t matter what you’re recognised for, I try to bring people into what I do, just use that exposure as positive energy.”

Exposure is what A Touch Of Jazz is all about. “My issues right now have more to do with not about what is in hip-hop, but what’s not in hip-hop. I don’t understand how you can get radio stations that play the same 25 records over and over again, and there’s a hundred thousand records out! I think it’s more important, to me, to give everybody a chance, because that only benefits the music and culture of hip-hop, instead of narrowing it down to what someone deems important,” he says. “That’s the main reason I set up A Touch of Jazz. Just to have a little more musical freedom and creativity to do what I want to do, and to put records out for music lovers. The beauty of a lot of the stuff I do is there is no great expectation to sell millions and millions of copies of records; we put records out for people who love good music. If you love it and support us we’re very grateful, and if you don’t then hopefully one day we can make something you’ll love and start to support us.”

Townes love of music can be easily heard in his voice when he talks about it, whether it’s talking about the latest releases on his label, or his upcoming tour.

“The fact that two turntables and a mixer and some records has taken me completely around the globe – especially now – I am so grateful for that. It’s a joy for me just to spread the love of music. We’re all linked together through music, and for me to be able to come and play music for people who love it and enjoy it… you know I probably enjoy it more than the people I’m playing for!” he laughs, “and I’m so grateful for that.”

“I play very high impact, high energy. In a period of about an hour and a half I may play about 200 records,” he says nonchalantly. “I like to take people on a journey through music, not just hip-hop. I play hip-hop, I play classics, I play breakbeat, I play house, I’ll play pretty much anything! It’s more about the excitement of the night, and the more energy I get from the crowd, the more I give back. Just tell people to watch out because you’re gonna have a great time!”