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DJ Jazzy Jeff
 

DJ Jazzy Jeff

Fact Sheet

Birth NameJeffrey A. Townes
Musical genre:Rap/Hip Hop  
BandDJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Birthday22 January 1965 (43)
SignAquarius
Birthplace  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Official sitehttp://www.djjazzyjeff.com/
DJ Jazzy Jeff (born Jeffrey A. Townes on January 22, 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American hip-hop DJ/turntablist and hip-hop/R&B record producer. He is best known for his early career with Will Smith as half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.

Together, the duo had several 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, Jazzy Jeff played the popular recurring character "Jazz", whose trademarks were 1)to be physically kicked out of the house by Will's Uncle Phil (James Avery); and 2) his silly one-liners.

DJ Jazzy Jeff is not to be confused with Jazzy Jeff from the earlier hiphop group Funky Four Plus One which infact 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.

He is also credited for creating the famous "Transformer" scratch. (See: Scratching)

On July 2, 2005, DJ Jazzy Jeff performed with Will Smith at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia.




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