J.U.S. Music: Jazzy Jeff (One of the Greatest)

The Magnificent DJ Jazzy Jeff

DJ Jazzy Jeff aka Jeffrey Townes was born on January 22, 1965 in Philadelphia known primaraly for his early work with the notorious Will Smith as half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.

Together, the duo had several gold and platinum-selling albums and singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, earning them the first rap Grammy ever presented in 1989 for Parents Just Don't Understand. When Smith branched out into television with the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

DJ Jazzy Jeff is not to be confused with Jazzy Jeff from the earlier hip hop group Funky Four Plus One, which in fact filed and won a lawsuit over the name Jazzy Jeff against Jeff Townes and Jive records when they signed DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. After DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince broke up, Townes went on to become a prominent R&B, soul, and neo soul record producer, establishing the A Touch of Jazz production company in his native Philadelphia. Among the artists that Jazzy Jeff has helped develop are Jill Scott and Musiq. Even though he separated from Will Smith as music partners, they are still best friends and still occasionally work together. Some songs by Will Smith were produced by Jeff Townes (Ex. Here He Comes), and he has performed on some songs by Will Smith such as "So Fresh" and "Potnas". In addition, he appears in several of Smith's music videos such as "Will2K", "Freakin' It", and "Party Starter".

He, along with DJ Cash Money, is credited with making the transform scratch famous. The scratch was actually created by another Philadelphia DJ by the name Spinbad (not to be confused with DJ Spinbad from the cold cuts crew). On July 2, 2005, DJ Jazzy Jeff performed with Will Smith at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia. In the past, Will has performed on concerts with DJ Jazzy Jeff for the scratches. Moreover, Will acknowledges him in his music like "Comin' To The Stage" from the album Lost & Found or "Potnas" in his album Willennium.

The Magnificent

Released in 2002 On the great BBE record label, The Magnificent features various artists on different tracks, all contributing their own individual styles to form a cohesive whole. The guests on here range from the established, to the upcoming, and include Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman, soul singer Jill Scott, acclaimed rapper J-Live, and underground hip hop legend The Last Emperor.
Although Jeff is the chief producer of the album, he nonetheless recruits an assortment of talent, which includes ?uestlove (of The Roots), Masters At Work (Louie Vega & Kenny Dope), and Kev Brown (who contributes 7 of the 18 tracks).

Tracklisting

1 "Da Ntro" (guests: Pauly Yamz & Baby Blak)

2 "Shake It Off" (guest: Chef Word)

3 "For Da Love of Da Game" (guests: Baby Blak & Pauly Yamz)

4 "Break It Down" (guest: J-Live)

5 "How I Do" (guests: Shawn Stockman & Cy Young)

6 "Worldwide" (guests: Baby Blak & Pauly Yamz)

7 "Musik Lounge" (guest: Oddisee)

8 "Rock Wit U" (guest: Erro)

9 "Travelz" (guests: Baby Blak & Crushall)

10 "Scram" (guest: Freddie Foxxx)

11 "My Peoples" (guest: Raheem)