“Jazzy Jeff” Townes was born January 22, 1965. By the time Jeff had made it to John Bartram High his skills as a DJ had progressed to a level that had him doing shows on the block party/ballroom circuit in West Philadelphia. Jeff rolled with many crews and emcees around Philly but it was 1985 when he met Will Smith on the house party circuit. Jeff’s regular MC was away so Will stepped on the mic and the chemistry was instant. They shared the same kind of humor and hit it off straight away.
By the summer of 1986 Will and Jeff had teamed up to released their first single, “Girl’s Ain’t Nothin But Trouble” as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble” was the first hip-hop song to sample a TV show theme, “I Dream of Jeannie” and it soon began to chart. During this time, Jazzy Jeff entered in the 1986 DMC New Music Seminar. The Philly DJ wasn’t known as a battle DJ but his routines were so impressive he walked away with the Championship.
Having made their mark on the music seminar in just a year of forming Jive/Zomba bought out the initial word up reco...
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