John Byas (born November 18, 1961), also known as The Original Jazzy Jay or DJ Jazzy Jay, is an American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

DJ and producer.

Background

Jazzy Jay was born into a

Gullah The Gullah () are a subgroup of the African Americans, African American ethnic group, who predominantly live in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida within ...

family in coastal South Carolina. He moved with his family to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at a young age and took up the

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, his first instrument. His first drum was a Roland drum machine He began his career in hip hop in the 1970s in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, the epicenter of hip hop culture during the first decade of its development, at the age of 13. An early member of

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...

Universal Zulu Nation The Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop culture, hip hop awareness group formed by electro (music), electro/hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa. According to the website of the UZN, the Zulu Nation stands for "knowledge, wisdom, und ...

, he was a protégé of Bambaataa as well as his older cousin, Kool DJ Red Alert. Beginning as a Zulu King dancer in the early 1970s, Jay later became a Universal Zulu Nation DJ and was a member of the Zulu group Jazzy Five, with which he recorded the single "Jazzy Sensation." Although Jazzy Jay began performing primarily at street parties, in the 1980s he began DJing in New York clubs such as Negril, the Roxy, the Ritz, and

Danceteria Danceteria was a nightclub that operated in New York City from May 1980 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. The club operated in various locations over the years, a total of three in New York City and four in the Hamptons. The most famous l ...

. He also hosted a hip hop radio program on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM and in 1984 he played himself as The Roxy's DJ in the influential hip hop film ''

Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to vari ...

''. Jazzy Jay and Afrika Islam performed some of the first DJ team routines and teamed up to battle both

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Robert Saddler (born January 1, 1958), known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is a Barbadian-American musician and DJ. He created a DJ technique called the Quick Mix Theory. This technique serviced the break-dancer and the rapper by el ...

(solo) and

Grand Wizard Theodore Theodore Livingston (born March 5, 1963), better known as Grand Wizzard Theodore, is an American musician and DJ. He is widely credited as the inventor of the scratching technique. In addition to scratching, he gained credibility for his mastery ...

(solo).

Origin of Def Jam Recordings

Around 1984, Jay met

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

and assisted him in laying the foundation for what would become

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. The label's first official single was the single "It's Yours" by

T La Rock Terrence Ronnie Keaton known by the stage name T La Rock, (born September 16, 1961) is an American old school hip hop, old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 in music, 1984 Si ...

and Jazzy Jay. Jay later introduced Rubin to

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...

, creating one of the most important partnerships in hip hop production. Jazzy Jay also put out Def Jam's third 12" in 1985, entitled "Def Jam" b/w "Cold Chillin' In The Spot", which featured Russell Simmons on vocals. In 1986, he participated in the recording ''

Planet Rock - The Album ''Planet Rock: The Album'' is an old school hip hop album by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, released in 1986 as a collection of previous singles. The song " Planet Rock" was one of the earliest hits of the hip hop music genre and remains ...

'', which was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. Also a producer, Jay founded Jazzy Jay's Studio in the Bronx, where he produced early recordings by

Diamond D Joseph Kirkland (born April 5, 1968), better known by his stage name Diamond D (or simply Diamond), is an American hip hop MC and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew ...

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

Brand Nubian Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, composed of three emcees ( Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar), and formerly three DJs ( DJ Alamo, DJ Sincere, and DJ Stud Doogie). Their debut studio album, '' One for Al ...

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

, and others. He also began his own label, Strong City Records, through a partnership with Rocky Bucano.

21st century

More recently, Jazzy Jay was featured in the 2001

turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...

documentary '' Scratch''. In the film, he displays his extensive LP collection (kept in the basement of his home), which he claims comprises at least 300,000 to 400,000 records. In 2000, Jazzy Jay was inducted into the Technics/DMC DJ Hall of Fame. He sometimes performs together with another hip hop pioneer,

. He is also interviewed extensively in the 2003 hip hop documentary '' 5 Sides of a Coin''.He was featured in the 2004 song "Rock And Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Part 2" by

Handsome Boy Modeling School Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) and Prince Paul ( Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz). The collaboration originally lasted ...

giving a background on himself and on rap as an art form. Jazzy Jay narrated a walking tour of

, "Hip Hop," by Soundwalk, that won the 2004

Audie award The Audie Awards (, rhymes with "gaudy"; abbreviated from ''audiobook''), or simply the Audies, are awards for achievement in spoken word, particularly audiobook narration and audiodrama performance, published in the United States of America. They ...

for Best Original Work. He and his wife have three children (Jazmine, Matthew, and Kenya), and live in

Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Bedford–Stuyvesant ( ), colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant is bordered by Flushing Avenue to the north (bordering Williamsburg), Classon ...

. Matthew Byas is a member of Brooklyn musical group Phony Ppl. In 2011, Jazmine graduated from the prestigious

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

, and is pursuing a career as a classical

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

. In 2014, she married Danny Lambert, of Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. In 2012, Jazzy Jay confirmed he was working on a collaborative album with DJ Phix. He was quoted speaking on the album saying "I'm just tryin' to get back to my roots, DJ Phix is the DJ who's gon help bring me back." The album will be released in late 2013.

References

External links

The Original Jazzy Jay - profile
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DJ Jazzy Jay Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2012) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jazzy Jay 1961 births American hip-hop DJs Living people Record producers from New York (state) American hip-hop record producers People from Beaufort, South Carolina Musicians from New York (state) Musicians from the Bronx Rappers from the Bronx 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians People from Soundview, Bronx