DJ Hero DJ Jazzy Jeff Vignette

Jeffrey Townes (born January 22, 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), also known as DJ Jazzy Jeff or simply Jazz, is an American hip hop, R&B record producer, turntablist and actor.

Townes got a job as a newspaper boy at age seven to support his family. Once he grew up, he developed a reputation and following as a school and block party DJ. He also won the world DJ championship in the 1986 New Music Seminar DJ Battle. Jazzy Jeff was the feature of the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince is a hip hop group that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The vocalist, Will Smith (The Fresh Prince), met Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff) while trying to make a name for himself in West Philadelphia's local hip hop scene. Jeff Townes and Will Smith were introduced to each other by chance in 1985. One night, Townes was performing at a house party only a few doors down from Smith's residence, and he was missing his hype man. Smith decided to fill in and both felt strong chemistry, soon after, the two decided to join forces.

Philadelphia-based Word Up Records released their first single in late 1985 to 1986 when A&R man Paul Oakenfold introduced them to Word Up with their single "Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble," a tale of misadventures with the opposite sex. As a duo, they 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.
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". On some occasions, he makes appearances with Smith on live concerts, producing DJ scratches.

He, along with DJ Cash Money, is credited with making the transform scratch famous.
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.


Featured DJ MySpace link - www.myspace.com/djjazzyjeff

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