bart5

http://publish.pots.com.tw/english/Music/2...38_23jazzyjeff/ Jazzy Jeff wakes up COURTESY OF JAZZY JEFF CREW MC Madd Skills (left) and DJ Jazzy Jeff in Taipei last week. Jazzy Jeff wakes up Andy O'Brien THE 1988 DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince release, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, was one of those key crossover albums that brought rap to me and millions of other rural and suburban American white kids. It was the first rap tape I ever heard. After snatching it off the record store shelf, I immediately brought it to my best friend's house where we listened to it in his bedroom until the next morning. A few months later I had played the cassette into oblivion. In the early 90s while the Fresh Prince went on to movie stardom as Will Smith, Jazzy Jeff made his way back to Philadelphia to work in his newly founded production company "A Touch of Jazz." Two years ago, he hit the road again, but this time on his own. Last Saturday night he hit the turn tables at the Luxy for a night of house, funk, soul, and old school hip hop with guest MC Mad Skillz. Four days after he'd arrived and two days after that show, I ended up waiting for four hours in a hotel room for this legend to wake up from a jetlagged-induced slumber while his tour manager entertained me with Slim Jims, Pop Tarts, Rainblow, and photos of Russian strippers from The Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff's September tour of Europe. And finally, at 1:30am, the man himself emerged: POTS: So how was the show? JAZZY JEFF: I Loved it. The show was incredible, the crowd was incredible and the energy was incredible. The crowd was so open to what we were doing, it reminded me of the early days of hip hop. Just like the kids here, we would take everything they gave us. We just wanted to soak up every record we could find. We didn't have time to be selective or say, "Hey, they don't play that on the radio." We vibed with whatever sounded good. In some places I've played, it's been like taking the crowd on an educational tour of what it was. In Taipei, I was taking them on an educational tour of what it is. POTS: Do you feel that hip hop's commercialization has destroyed a lot of that enthusiasm? JJ: Yes, but more so outside the US. Before hip hop's commercialization, we were begging for it to get big. We didn't want the commercialization to take over, but it was great that eventually we got a record like "Parents Just Don't Understand," then there was NWA's "Niggaz You Love to Hate." Hip hop covered everything. I loved gangster rap. I loved everything. What people don't understand is although hip hop is a lifestyle, rap is a lyrical form. You can rap over any kind of music - jazz, funk, soul, opera, you can rap over anything. It can pull anybody in who just loves music, so it doesn't all have to be "hip hop." But now someone who has never played music chooses what you hear. hey just say, "We're gonna play this record 20 times a day to get into people's heads." The biggest problem is not what the radio plays, but what the radio doesn't play. POTS: Yeah, but Rush Limbaugh blamed the recent NBA brawl on "hip hop culture." JJ: That doesn't even make me mad. That's just an uneducated person. He doesn't know what hip hop is. POTS: Have you ever been able to go back to playing block parties? JJ: They really don't have those kinds of parties anymore and it's sad because that's where I cut my teeth. The block party is dead. Most people are so programmed by the radio stations that they just want to hear the same ten records that the radio plays over and over. It sucks for a DJ who wants to expose people to something new. You can throw one record and get everyone out on the floor. Twenty minutes later you can throw the same damn record on and they'll be back on the floor like they'd never heard it. It's like, "Are we in the Matrix or some ****?" While I was growing up, people would respond to the sound. If someone threw something on and it felt good, you just went with it. POTS: Have you checked out any local music in Taiwan? JJ: I haven't really been able to get as much Asian music, but DJ Noodles, who opened for me at the Luxy, was amazing. She could cut and I loved her selection. So many DJs just want to play the top-40 stuff, but I love it when a DJ grabs something obscure. She had guts. POTS: And what about the DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince reunion? JJ: We did a show in LA last summer and we went to Moscow, London, Paris, and Australia. I've got to go home after the tour and work on his new record with him. Will really wants to go on tour again. He really doesn't like doing performances without me. It always goes from the "Will Smith thing" then the "Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince" show. I've always been involved in his projects, but I've just never chosen to take the same "DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince" route again. After we finished our last record deal, I needed a break from the industry. I've always been involved, but it just wasn't contractual. I didn't want to get tied down again. I was in a contract when I was a 20-year-old kid. We were signed for ten years, so I was thirty-something when I got out. But I was like, "I have the wisdom of a 15 year old! I need to get out!" POTS: What advice do you have for the kids of Taiwan? JJ: Thanks for the support. Thanks for being open to new music. Hip hop is a great thing. If you take care of it, it'll take care of you.

Awesome review! It makes me want to go grab a copy.

nah Cem, maybe you're thinkin about my Tell Me Why or Potnas one? FFS: I'll put it on rapidshare sumtime :2thumbs: Sweet, I would really appreciate it if you did put it on rapidshare.

Gotta love Keenan & Kel. One of my all time favorite shows. The intro with Coolio was sweet. Man I hope they put that out on DVD. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/t..._&_Kel_Logo.jpg

Thats an amazing experience. Wow. I'm glad you finally got to meet Jazzy Jeff!

Can't wait to see the video! Have a GREAT time!

I'm gonna **** him up :rofl: Thanks lerkot

www.freewebs.com

:rofl: And In This Peach... He's the DJ, I'm the Peach ... Nightmare On My Peach ... Brand New Peach ... Gettin Jiggy Wit Peaches ... Twinkle Twinkle (I'm Not a Peach) ... I'm Looking For the One (Ripe Peach) ... Can't Wait To Be With Peaches ... :rofl: :rofl:

You got mail. Thanks Tim!

Thats awesome that you saw Fresh Prince. Welcome to the best forum on the world wide web.

Dope video Tim!!! Its so awesome to see the Magnificent in action. This forum is the best.

Good luck dude. Study hard, party hard, and enjoy the freedom of college! I hope you have a great time. btw- what college are you attending?

Flordia beat UCLA to win the National Championship. I watched some of the game and Flordia dominated the whole time. I didn't really follow college hoops though. Anyone else see the game?

I really like the first one there of JJ scratching. I might want to use this picture for a future drawing. :dj: Great pictures Tim. Glad to see you had a dope vacation.

Dang, that kinda sucks because I really liked your remix of last year's speech. Thanks for the clip Max!!

Thanks Jonny! Its sweet that they took so many pictures of Will.

haha definitely possible.

Congrats dude. Have a good time driving! Also, I got my license the first try in December.

Which album was this in? :paperbag: Plz put it up if its hard to find :wiggle: It's not on an album, jjfp performed it in the late 80's once. When Tim gets back from holiday, send him a PM and see if you can still buy his JJFP/WS dvd's which have the video of the performance on... :2thumbs: I was thinking about Sky's The Limit a little while ago, and thought that it would be dope if someone could record the audio onto their computer. On my old apple laptop I had for school last year, I could record audio on it, and play the audio on itunes afterwards. If anyone has a program that would allow them to record audio, they could record Sky's The Limit and upload it.

:word: AJ couldn't have said it better. Will Smith will always have loyal fans.

Sounds good lerkot. I would definitely like to hear them.

I know. I am not a huge fan of Eminem, I just really like some of his stuff. I don't like hardcore rap, besides a little bit of Eminem's music. I know a lot of people diss Em, but thats alright because he deserves to be dissed for all the crappy music he makes. Most of the Eminem songs that I have are the edited or clean versions of his songs. All I know is he has some great music, and mainly crappy music. He will never compare to Will. I prefer clean rap all the way, because I like to listen to music that makes me feel good and have a good time. Just to let you know, the artists that I like to listen to or I am just getting into are (besides JJFP): A Tribe Called Quest, Heavy D & The Boyz, LL Cool J, Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Group, Eric B. & Rakim, Eminem, and Kel Spencer.

Thats bullcrap. :word: Lerkot. I know people that say "ouch" when you say you are listening to Will Smith. I admit that Eminem does promote violence in some of his music. I only like to listen to 15 of Eminem's tracks, but the rest aren't very good at all. Eminem raps with his emotions on some of his stuff like Lose Yourself and 'Till I Collapse that inspire me, but on his other stuff he doesn't have good measages. Props for that cop mentioning Will though. Will's music is 100x better then Eminem's, even though Em has some good stuff out there.

Happy birthday dude!!