Jazzy Jeff

Jazzy Jeff had a most excellent childhood with different music pouring out of every room in his Philadelphia home. By the age of 10 he knew there was only one thing he wanted to do in life, become a DJ. This summer the superstar head to Ibiza and the brand new Applebum night set to take the island by storm. You want this party started right? Boom! Shake the room…

Interview by Dan Prince

 

Jeff, we have caught you in the studio today having a really early start?

Hey Dan, yeah I have been on tour for six weeks and I have just got back to a very dusty studio. I have a couple of mixes to finish this week, sort out a lot of cables. Usual shit.

You are headlining Applebum in Ibiza this summer, the island’s first ever major Hip Hop night. Did you ever think your sound would be a major force here?

Absolutely. I have been in and out of the white isle for years and have always dropped some hip hop. I mix it up, play some funk and disco. Man if you can’t party in Ibiza where can you? Apple Bum is going to be a huge success this summer I am sure.

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Loved your Facebook post recently where you told the story of a member of the Dubai Royal family hassling your friend who was DJing to play nothing but Drake. That shit happen to you a lot in these places where they don’t get the whole ‘DJ set’ outlook?

It hasn’t happened to me thankfully, but I felt his pain. A lot of DJs in places like that don’t get a chance to show what they can do…but that’s the day and age we live in. People with money want what they want when they want, they don’t understand how a DJ likes to build a set and take the dancefloor on a journey in places like Dubai. The way I look at it is simple. Say for instance you need your doors or windows fixing at your house you call a carpenter and let him get on with what he does best. It’s the same with a DJ, let him do what he is booked for, to give the whole audience a good time.

You got hooked on music from an early age…

I did. My brothers had a huge record collection and they showed me how to use the stereo when I was really young. By the age of ten I was walking around the house carrying this 45 record player like it was a GI Joe toy. There was so much great music in the house. My older brothers were into funk and soul with people like George Duke and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. My sisters loved Marvin Gaye and my dad was into jazz so he was playing Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith. Amazing times.

How did the whole Will Smith friendship begin?

“I was 15 and DJing at a house party on the same street he lived in and by chance the MC didn’t show. He came over and asked if he could grab the mic…and the rest is history. We had an natural chemistry and a great balance with our personalities.

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I first met you at the NMS in New York back in the 80s, you were only just graduating from High School. What conflict did your love for the turntables have with your education? What did your family think of your decisions?

I have to give real credit to my mother back then, she was watching her son get involved in a world that she didn’t understand at all. She never stopped me entering competitions and I kept telling her ‘mom I am good trust me!’. It wasn’t until I walked in with the NMS trophy that she realised her son had a real talent for music and DJing.

You never too the DMC title home though…?

Dude, I did the regionals and the US Final and just before the World Final I got sick. The irony of it all was the guy who won I beat at NMS! As much I love the whole art of turntablism, I decided I wanted to make records and showcase the culture rather than battle. I was more of a showman if you like, nobody really knew what a DJ was back then and I wanted to tour the world and shout from the rooftops of our crazy world!

I was talking to a fellow superstar spinner the other day and he said that if Donal Trump gets into power in the US he was moving out of the States…

“Man, my bags are already packed.”

Applebum takes place every Tuesday from June 21st-September 13th starring Jazzy Jeff, The Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Yoda, Nightmares on Wax, DJ Yella (NWA), Coolio, Slum Village, Blackstreet, DJ Premier and many more.

http://www.applebum.co.uk/