#Jazzy Jay

[ourladyofomega]

[strathshepard]

[djevilninja]

Jazzy Jay - Def Jam

[c-40]

A-T-4 156 So Def So Def So Def...

It's a Def Jam. It's 40-years since the first hip hop records from one of the genre's definitive labels Def Jam came out. The first two albums I bought as a kid were on Def Jam so the label holds a special place for me

Def Jam Recordings actually debuted as a label two years earlier. Before the hip hop records the label, which was being run out of Rick Rubin's NYU dorm, had released two punk rock records. The iconic hip hop track It's Yours was produced and put out by Rick Rubin before he meets manager and promoter Russell Simmons and they become business partners

Rick Rubin's friend Ed Bahlman encouraged him to out his own records independently and Bahlman's label 99 Records handled the distribution of the first two Def Jam releases. The first two Def Jam Recordings records are records by Rick Rubin's punk rock band Hose. The inaugural release carries the Def Jam Recordings logo that is still used today on the record label and its sleeve. The logo was designed by Rick Rubin who was studying art at NYU at the time. Because of Def Jam's significance to hip hop these releases are nearly always written out of the label's history but they have Def Jam catalogue numbers and a Def Jam Recordings postal address (Rick Rubin's dorm)

As well as being the year Rick Rubin released the first Def Jam record 1982 was the year the Beastie Boys put out their debut the "Polly Wog Stew EP". Like Rick Rubin's band Hose the Beastie Boys were punk rock. Adam Horovitz wasn't a Beastie Boy yet he was in another punk rock band The Young and the Useless. Both bands played the New York hardcore circuit sometimes opening for each other and they shared the same manager, Nick Cooper

Why is the early history of the Beastie Boys important to the Def Jam story?

In 1983 guitarist John Berry leaves the Beastie Boys. Horovitz, who was still a member of The Young and the Useless,  takes his place. DJ Anita Sarko is described by the NYT as a 'crucial bridge between the city's punk and disco scenes', this is certainly true for the Beastie Boys who would dance to the records she spun at Manhattan club Danceteria. One record was "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren and the World's Famous Supreme Team which the Beastie Boys loved so much they decided to make a parody of sorts. This became the group's next release "Cooky Puss" and amazingly it became an underground club favorite

Why am I still on about the Beastie Boys?

Having a club hit meant playing that track at club appearances. "Cooky Puss" is unlike their earlier punk rock material to perform it the band decided they needed a DJ, like RUN DMC had. The Beastie Boys manager Nick Cooper contracted Rick Rubin to be the Beastie Boys' DJ who used the name DJ Double R

A television commercial made for British Airways uses a segment of "Cooky Puss" b-side "Beastie Revolution" without permission and the Beastie Boys and their manager, being the middle class children of art gallery owners, art dealers and collectors, and playwrights, sue British Airways for copyright infringement. The case is settled the out of court for $40,000. This gives them the financial freedom to concentrate on their music. With his share of the payout Adam Horovitz buys a Roland TR-808 drum machine

Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, and Michael Diamond begin spending a lot of time with Rick Rubin in his dorm. They share an appreciation of hip hop. Adam Horovitz is bringing round his 808. It's the beats Rick Rubin makes on Horovitz's 808 that convinces Russell Simmons to go into a partnership with him and provides the beats for many Def Jam Recording releases, including all of those featured on this page. With the success of "Cooky Puss" Rick Rubin convinces Horovitz, Yauch, and Diamond to ditch their drummer Kate Schellenbach and punk rock in favour of becoming three MC's and one DJ

The last thing I want to say about "Cooky Puss" is the Beastie Boys logo on the sleeve is made by Cey Adams who will become Def Jam's first art director

Boom Bap

Rick Rubin is deejaying for the Beastie Boys and creating beats on Adam Horovitz's TR 808 and he wants to make a credible hip hop record. This record would be "It's Yours"

"First I met Kool Moe Dee from the Treacherous Three, who were my favorite group. And I said, “Let’s make a record together. Let’s make a Treacherous Three record.” And he said, “We can’t really do that. We’re signed to Sugar Hill, but talk to Special K, another guy in the group, because he has a brother who can rap, and maybe he’d be good for you to do this with.” I didn’t know that there were contracts, I didn’t know anything. I had no experience whatsoever. I was just a fan. So I met with Special K, and Special K introduced me to his brother T La Rock, and he wrote the words." - Rick Rubin interview for Vulture in 2014

"It's Yours" isn't by T La Rock alone, it's T La Rock and legendary DJ, member of the member of Soulsonic Force, Jazzy Jay. But Jazzy Jay wasn't the first DJ considered for "It's Yours". T La Rock had a DJ named Louie Lou (who would co-produce later tracks like "Breakin Bells" with T La Rock.) According to his brother Special K and Louie had a falling out over the demo recording and Louie was out. Luckily Rick Rubin had a connect with Jazzy Jay and the rest is history

Jazzy Jay tells a different story he's pretty bitter about the record and Def Jam Recordings in general. He doesn't think he gets enough credit for his contribution or royalties. Jay Quan asks Jazzy Jay about making "It's Yours"

"[Jay Quan] Whose idea was it to use the Uncle Louie break in the [intro]? That “Da-na Da-na Na--?”

"[Jazzy Jay] It was mine. Every bit of scratching was done live--no takes or punch-ins or whatever. Everything other than the beat and the rap, I put in it. There’s so many tracks… The scratching on that is meticulous.

"Louie Lou had done a draft on a cassette… Rick gave him the beat and he did some scratches, but it wasn’t full orchestration like the way I did it, where you had scratches coming in and I’m complementing everything. He just had a couple of scratches going in and out and that was about it." - check out Jay Quan's interview with Jazzy Jay here

The beat on "It's Yours" was made by Rick Rubin on the aforementioned 808. Jazzy Jay claims it was him who taught Rubin to program the 808 and that he also did additional work on the beat for "It's Yours." On the record label Jazzy Jay gets a co-production credit just like Special K gets credit for writing the lyrics

Something there's no disagreement on is that the Beastie Boys were in the studio when the track was being recorded and were conscripted into providing the atmospheric crowd response on the chorus and on the Scratch Party Death Mix version

As I've said Rick Rubin didn't know Russell Simmons at this time. The record label Rick Rubin had used to distribute his first two Def Jam releases, 99 Records, was in a legal dispute with Sugar Hill Records in 1984 and struggling financially. So Rick Rubin approaches Streetwise to see if they will distribute the record. Streetwise is run by Arthur Baker who produced "Planet Rock" and "Looking For The Perfect Beat", Jazzy Jay was also involved with those records as a member of The Soulsonic Force. Streetwise like "It's Yours" so much they offer to release it on their subsidiary Partytime. "It's Yours" becomes a massive hit and gets a 2nd pressing, the difference between this and the first press is that this one has the Def Jam Recordings logo underneath the Partytime logo on the label. All subsequent 1984 represses also include the Def Jam logo. The picture sleeve for "It's Yours" features Rick Rubin's now legendary Def Jam tone arm (according to Stacy Gueraseva, the tone arm was created by "a girlfriend of Hose’s lead singer, Mike Espindle," working under Rick’s direction), there is a Def Jam catalogue number on it's spine, the Def Jam logo on the back and most importantly a postal address (still Rick Rubin's dorm)

When did T La Rock realise he's made a hit? He was working in a pharmacy and heard it on the radio

"There was a DJ named Tony Humphries who played it around noon when they’d do a master mix hour. So Humphries mixed in my song and it was so unexpected that I damn near lost it. Back then, you might hear Kurtis Blow or Run DMC occasionally on the radio but that was it. After the song was over, they said that it was the most requested song of the day!" - T La Rock interview with David Ma 

T La Rock & Jazzy Jay - It's Yours

T La Rock & Jazzy Jay - It's Yours (Scratch Party Death Mix)

[starryscale]

managed to finally get his back horns on his head..:3

[yourboijod]

J.O.D - Place & Actions Feat. SmooVth (Visual Video)

[anotherwvba]

Punchline pt. 3

The backstage corridor at the Laughing Skull Lounge was narrow and dimly lit, but Jazzy Jamboree led Gabby Jay through like a seasoned veteran.

“Mon ami, you come through here often?” Gabby asked as Jazzy guided him around an equipment chest.

Jazzy chuckled, “You know I dig the spotlight, Gabs. I might have been on that stage a time or two.”

Gabby laughed back, “That explains how you were able to talk the manager into letting this slide with a plug to the live crowd on the next few fight cards.”

“All about who you know, my brother.” Jazzy came to a halt in front of the dressing room door. An assortment of shouts and crashes came from behind the closed door. “Man, sounds like they on round two in there.”

Gabby took position by the door, “Mon Dieu, may this not be a complete disaster.”

“Amen to that. Open her up, Gabs.” Jazzy stepped aside to let Gabby lead the way.

As Gabby opened the door, a hamburger slider came whizzing at his face. The old fighter’s instincts were still there as he narrowly dodged the edible projectile, but it found a home squarely in the middle of Jazzy’s face. From inside, curses and threats filled the air.

“What in the world…” Gabby stared blankly into the utter mayhem that was the dressing room as Jazzy cleaned his face off with a handkerchief.

“Pozwól mi odejść!” Jon Adamski, the comedian that had been pummeling a heckler earlier, now had Disco Kid on top of him trying to hold him down on a couch. “Fight like a man, coward!” Jon screamed as he was furiously reaching for food from the catering table behind the couch.

Disco, struggling with a man half his size, pinned Jon’s wrists to the back of the couch. “Settle down, man! You wanna fight, we’ll do it in the ring. But we here to talk, so just chill.”

Bald Bull was standing by the door with his arms stoically crossed. Behind him on the wall was an assortment of splattered foodstuffs, but Bull was untouched. Clearly, his bobbing and weaving skills were not to be underestimated. He glanced at Gabby with an air of slight annoyance, “Found him. He’s little upset.”

Jazzy, wiping what was left of the ketchup from the slider off his face, “Boy, you lucky that didn’t hit my suit.”

Jon surged forward in a fury, trying to break away from Disco, “Przynieś to, ty skurwielu!”

“Oh, hell no!” Jazzy lunged forward only to be intercepted by both Bull and Gabby. “You gonna talk that good shit? We can go! I wasn’t always an announcer, punk!”

In the midst of the scuffle, Jon got a hand free and hurled a piece of cake toward Jazzy… only for it to splatter against the back of Bald Bull’s head.

Bull straightened and the room went silent and still, all but Jon’s yelling that is. Never turning to face the projectile’s place of origin, Bull looked sideways at Gabby and held his gaze for a tense moment. “I get this one’s first match.”

As Disco continued his efforts to restrain the volatile comedian, Jon yelled, “You want me, starzec? You can’t sneak up on me now! You. Me. Parking lot! Now!”

Gabby, seeing the Turkish man’s expression, “Oui, that can be arranged. For now, please see that we aren’t interrupted.”

Bull moved to leave and Jazzy patted him on the back, “I’ll join you, Champ. The vibe’s getting too serious in here for my taste.”

Once Bull and Jazzy had left and the door closed, Gabby turned his attention to Jon. "Do you know who I am?" he asked in a firm tone.

Jon, still struggling under Disco, nodded. "Tak, you're Gabby Jay. That old loser that retired and started scouting talent."

“Close enough.” Gabby’s gaze was as sharp and intense as Disco had ever seen. “Let him go.”

Disco started to ask if Gabby was sure, but the Frenchman’s look shut him down. Disco got up and Jon bolted toward the door. Then, suddenly, Jon was on the floor holding his cheek. That cheek had the broad and quickly reddening handprint of an old loser on it.

“Jak śmiesz?!” Jon muttered as he rubbed his stinging cheek, now seated on the floor.

“Now, jeune homme,” Gabby straightened his sports coat and took a seat on the floor across from Jon, “may we converse like civilized men?”

Jazzy Jamboree is an OC belonging to @sukipershipper and is used with permission.

Jon Adamski is an OC belonging to @punchout-ispunched and is used with permission.

[boimgfrog]

have a problem (<- can't stop buying cheap press on nails 4 the .5 secs of childlike glee before remembering how terrible having long nails is and ripping them off like a caged chimpanzee)

[teck-zilla]

[ourladyofomega]

[gimmethatagustd]

134340 really makes me feel things

[jayyojazzyjay]

Yoshi

Too Many Combos

[c-40]

A-T-3 240 Death Mix

Have you watched Omar Acosta's new documentary Mixtape? It explores the role of the mixtape has had in the development and circulation of hip hop music. I was tempted to turn it off because the start of it is a mess, images and stories from one era clash with music from another. Gratefully the film eventually sorts itself out into more cohesive narrative, party tapes, dj mixtapes, freestyles from guests, exclusives, new artists essentially releasing indie albums to get known on the street, the crackdown by the law followed by brands and major labels eating mixtapes up and shitting them out. The interviewees the documentary makers manage to get is impressive, a lot of the names off the mixtape wishlist are there. Mr. Magic's Rap Attack gets written out of history in favour of rival Kool DJ Red Alert. Red Alert made early Dj mixtapes which is useful when you're telling the story of hip hop mixtapes, he also fostered the Universal Zulu Nation

Which brings me, again, to the gaping hole in the documentary Afrika Bambaataa. Arguably the most notorious of all the early party tapes is Afrika Bambaataa's Death Mix. It was recorded at a Zulu Nation night at James Monroe High School in the Bronx in 1980 (some say 1979.) Mixtape the documentary goes to great efforts to get across how popular tapes were repeatedly copied and distributed. The sound quality of Death Mix is awful because the record was cut from a fourth or fifth generation cassette copy. This hasn't detoured fans of hip hop because at the time when Sugar Hill Gang released their disco rap record Rappers Delight here we have an authentic snapshot of hip hop as it was performed live. Other performers here Dj Jazzy Jay and Soul Sonic/Cosmic Force Mc's are unfairly drawn under the shadow cast over Bam's reputation. Of course the allegations against Bambaataa are indefensible and but it's curious how interviewees on the Mixtape documentary openly boasts about violence, threats of murder, theft, drug dealing... hip hop culture is far from wholesome - these are all part of the game, peodphilia and sex trafficking are not part of the game (but it kind of is.) Hip hop also has a serious problem with misogyny, apparently this part of the game too as astonishingly convicted rapist Mike Tyson is brought out all through the documentary, a new civil lawsuit was filled in January against Tyson accusing him of rape

The record of the nth generation tape of Death Mix was released by Paul Winley Records in 1983. Another story Mixtape tells is one of shiesty behaviour, this is how Death Mix got onto record. Sweet Tee's father Paul Winley had recorded Zulu Nation Throwdown by Afrika Bambaataa and Cosmic Force in 1980 but Bam wasn't happy with Paul Winley's decision to overdub Harlem Underground Band onto their track (so it sounded more like something on Sugar Hill or Enjoy.) Zulu Nation Throwdown was popular with New Wave audiences in New York so Throwdown 2 was scheduled, sessions weren't going to Bam's liking so he parted company with Paul Winley. Death Mix was released after all this had happened without Bambaataa's consent - but Bam appears to care very little for consent

The final Judas kiss Mixtape gives us is it reveals that hip hop (especially American hip hop) hasn't had any new ideas in a very long time

[starryscale]

freedom, somewhat

ten wins to go until the seal rock coat is also mine, but for now, we straddle the ADS in celebration

[yourboijod]

I made a Spotify playlist with some of my favourite Rap songs with Jazz samples.

Follow the playlist.

[thedigitalcrates]

Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame Inducts Three DJ Hip-Hop Legends

The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) recently inducted legendary hip-hop artists Davy DMX (Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys), DJ Hurricane (The Beastie Boys) and DJ Jazzy Jay (Def Jam) at their Stony Brook museum location (97 Main Street, Stony Brook, NY).   The DJ’s performed and were joined by LIMEHOF inductee DJ Johnny Juice (Public Enemy). Hip Hop Legend and…