The other night, my buddy Jiga Dre from the Bay called me up to confirm that Jam Master Jay was dead. I had not heard anything on it, but checked one of my secret emails and told him, in shock, that “Yes, he was shot about an hour ago.”
My phone rang so much I had to turn it off a few hours later. It still rings as I write this. My hear still morns the reason I stepped into Hip Hop. I didn’t wanna be Run or DMC ( all do respect to the Kings of Rock)- I wanted to know how the guy in the back who never spoke but could create those sounds I had never heard before. I wanted to be Jam Master Jay.
Jam Master Jay is the reason I would be locked in my room all weekend while most of my friends went to house parties. At the Fresh Fest, I was inspired further after watching Jay make the crowd scream so loud I thought the Oakland Coliseum would collapse from the sound. His poster sat above my turntables as I sat in hopes that by having it there- I might get better…..that never happened, I still suck. But it was the inspiration, created by Jay’s skill that I remember the most.
Before Qbert, Mix Master Mike, Apollo, Vinroc, DJ Disk, The X-men, Alladin, Joe Cooley, Cut Chemist, of all of them cats- JAM MASTER JAY WAS THE ONE IN CHARGE…..He inspired many of the worlds DJ’s, without question. This is not to mention how all that Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, P.O.D., all them cats know Run DMC gave birth to them. Look at all the rock bands with DJ‘s now. That’s a direct effect of Jam Master Jay- period.
He set the tone for DJ’s to get and maintain respect. Run DMC was one of the first groups to make songs ABOUT their DJ. Songs like “Jam Master Jay“, “Peter Piper“, “Daryl and Joe” and others ensured that other DJ’s got love on Hip Hop records. UTFO’s “Leader of the Pack”, Eric B and Rakim‘s “Chinese Arithmetic“, Gangstarr‘s “DJ Premier in Deep Concentration” was all a part of the seminal seeds of Hip Hop that spawned all across the world. Today, that part of Hip Hop is a virtually forgotten tradition, and it’s a shame.
I don’t think anybody realizes fully the hole that has been created in Hip Hop with his untimely passing.
I spoke to Bay Area Graf legend Scape One. And he hammered something home to me that he as been telling me for years. To paraphrase him “I don’t ever wanna hear about how “the industry” has people short in the game. I don’t wanna hear about the “the man“, I don’t wanna hear about anything. This is a classic case of Black folks not policing them selves and their community.”
Scape One is right. We can’t chock this tragedy up on the “white man”, we can’t put up on “illuminati conspiracies” or “alien abductions“, how “soft MC’s are distorting Hop Hop” and “Masonic mystery’s” . This is another example of young Black males, refusing to love themselves, and the people who tried to make this world a better place.
The kicker is that Jam Master Jay was no “thug type” rapper. Ain’t no coast wars dealing with this. All of DMC’s stuff was spun toward the positive. Especially after Run DMC got closer to the church. That compounds the tragedy ten fold.
In my last article, “Ballots or Bullets 2002” written a few weeks ago, I wrote about the following. It pertains to voting really, but I am re-framing it a bit and changing portions of it for this discussion:
“We, as the Hip Hop community can sit around here and quote people from Malcolm X, to Chairman Mao, to Farrakhan, to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) till we are blue in the face. But no amount of dread locks, no super fresh silkscreen shirt of Malcolm X, no sporting of a skullcap and African garb will take the place of action in your community.
We need to take ourselves, and our communities seriously. Black people have been used as an entertainment commodity for so long that we don't even value ourselves anymore. We think of ourselves as social and political junk, but in truth, we have been and always will be a beautiful, intelligent people. When united, sober minded and properly educated we are a force to be reckoned with. It is time our generation picks up the torch of justice seeking beyond songs and manifest change…
You need to pull the ballot box in your own brain and choose integrity over insanity. Make a vote for morality over madness in the streets. You don't need a ballot box to stop calling Black women (all women for that matter) 'bitches', 'chicken heads' and 'hoes'. You don't need a ballot box to stop calling yourself and your friends 'nigger's' and 'dogs'. Vote in you head NOT to shoot your brother over petty BS. Vote not to be violent toward your children and girlfriend. No ballot box is needed to respect your elders when you see them and speak to them in a courteous manner. You don't need a politician to go to Marcus Books and buy James Baldwin's “No Name in the Street,” Bakari Kitwana's “The Hip Hop Generation“ or Charlie Ahearn’s “Yes, Yes Ya‘ll“. Make the personal vote to do that.
Like My buddy Himelick Manuever said “It’s like today, people are becoming numb to the value of life.” So day I pray that you will honor the DJ in your local area. Take some time to honor and remember all of the people who died, loving Hip Hop. It might be a local MC from your block. It might be a graf cat you knew, or a b-girl you used to dance with.
The death of Jam Master Jay, is another painful symbol of the issues Black America, and poor America needs to resolve among themselves. We’re gonna need to look in the mirror on this one, and be honest with us, about us, and take the real time to find and help us. Listen to Ice Cube's “US” and tell me he’s wrong…..It’s time to clean up ourselves and our communities like never before.
While I’m writing this, I believe that the suspect is still at large. I hope anyone who saw anything lets the authorities know. This is not the time for silence. This is the time to be responsible. Jam Master Jay was married with three kids. Help that brother and his family get the closure they need.
What Jam Master Jay gave to Hip Hop and Rock music no one can give again. Whoever shot Jam Master Jay needs to know that by killing him, they still have not taken him, or what he gave the world away from us.
Adisa Banjoko is co-author to the upcoming book, Chicken Soup for the Hip Hop Soul. He can be emailed at adisa@myhiphopstory.com .
