Jazzy Jeff - Interview - 2002

Although everyone and their wedding DJ boyfriend will know of Jazzy Jeff’s exploits with Will Smith as the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, few may know what happened before, after and underneath the recording of tracks like ‘The Girls Of The World Ain’t Nothing But Trouble’ and ‘Boom Shake The Room’.

CMU spent time digging history and future with the master:

“I was really big as a DJ in Philadelphia, and Will was really big as an MC, but we were both in different crews. There were parties all the time. Every Weekend there would be a block party or a house party every Friday and/or Saturday night. This one night, there was a party on his block, that I had to do, and the MC that I used didn’t come so it was just perfect timing: he came in the basement and was like ‘hey wassup, mind if I grab the mike?’ and he got on the mike and t was a very natural chemistry that will and I had from day one. From then everything happened so fast: we had a deal, then a record, then we were on TV.”

After successes such as ‘Parents Just Don’t Understand’ not to mention frequent cameos on ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’, while Will went to Hollywood, Jeff kept to his original script and set up A Touch Of Jazz.

“Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air funded A Touch Of Jazz, which started in 1990. Just like any person starting out ion business you make a ton of mistakes, and Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince paid for those mistakes; but it was something that I really wanted do - production has always been my passion.”   

“My musical taste is extremely wide, and I didn’t just want to do hiphop records, I wanted to be extremely experimental; so it became an outlet for me to try out new and creative things.”

 A Touch of Jazz may not be a household name, but Jeff’s production house has produced some of the most inspired name in hiphop; and ATOJ has been particularly important in the creation of the distinct Philly Sound.

“When I felt like quitting, I would just think ‘what if tomorrow's THE day?’, because one day there was just a record, the next day we had a TV show, so I stayed positive.”

“And that day kinda came with Jill. ATOJ was there for ten years, and it was just about getting the right shot. Being good wasn’t everything – we were in the right place at the right time. There’s probably a lot of guys in their basements who are incredible – no one knows about them.”

It has to be said that Jeff’s production seems so tailor made for the different people he has worked with; everyone from Floetry to Michael Jackson have enjoyed his touch:

“As a producer, you have to marry everyone that you work with. You have to sit down and get to know each other as best you can, because it is your job to enhance them. A lot of people come to Philly and say ‘we want what you gave Jill Scott’, I say ‘I can’t give you what I gave Jill Scott – it’s hers. I can give you something, but it’ll be different. And taking that approach has always helped.” 

It has to be said that this album feels like a cornerstone in hiphop production: with its lush slick smooth beats and tight rhymes, through to the forward-thinking jazz/hiphop fusion. The album features collaborations with J-Live, Baby Blak & Yams and Jill Scott – surely this must be his magnum opus.