| DJ Jazzy Jay | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Birth name |
John Lawrence Byas |
|
Also known as |
The Original Jazzy Jay |
|
Born |
November 18, 1961 |
|
Origin |
New York City, New York, United States |
|
Genres |
|
|
Occupations |
DJ, record producer |
|
Associated acts |
Afrika Bambaataa, Afrika Islam, Diamond D, DJ Red Alert, Jazzy Five, T La Rock, Universal Zulu Nation |
John Lawrence Byas (born November 18, 1961), better known by his stage name DJ Jazzy Jay, is an American hip hop DJ and producer. He has a collection of roughly 400,000 records from a career spanning nearly forty years.
Jazzy Jay was born in coastal South Carolina, before his family moved to New York City at a young age. He learnt how to play the drums as a child, before discovering hip hop music in the 1970s. An early member of Afrika Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation, he was a protégé of Bambaataa and 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 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. He hosted a hip hop radio program on KISS FM, and he also made an appearance in the 1984 film Beat Street as a DJ at The Roxy. That same year, Jay met Rick Rubin and assisted him in laying the foundation for what would become Def Jam Recordings. The label's first official single was "It's Yours" by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay. Jay later introduced Rubin to Russell Simmons, creating one of the most important partnerships in hip hop production.
In 1986, he participated in the recording of Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force's album Planet Rock: The Album, which was certified gold. Jay founded Jazzy Jay's Studio in the Bronx, where he produced early recordings by Diamond D, Fat Joe, Brand Nubian, and A Tribe Called Quest, among others.
In 2001, he was featured in the turntablism documentary Scratch, where he displays his extensive record collection.
Discography[]
- 1989: Cold Chillin' in the Studio Live