The French Prince of Bel Air re-runs on Channel Nine were an after school staple of Aussie childhood. The all too classic theme rhymed by Will Smith rang throughout countless playgrounds, perhaps even more pervasively than the notorious “No Hat No Play”. Jazz, Will’s dimwitted and tactless friend from Compton, known for being purged out of the house via a swift drop-kick courtesy of Uncle Phil, was most Australian’s first introduction to Jeffrey Townes, otherwise known as DJ Jazzy Jeff. Perhaps less familiar to our audiences is the role Jazzy Jeff had in the launch of the show. A music lover from a young age, Jazzy Jeff, grew up in a period intersecting the development of hip hop and its mainstream crossover. Despite his more traditional musical roots, Jeff opted instead to become a DJ, citing, “It wasn’t cool to be a musician”. He maintained work on the sitcom for its full six seasons, while also working as a producer with music legends, including Michael Jackson. Beat speaks with Jazzy Jeff about his work with good friend, Will Smith, his production company and his favourite Australian music.
As hip hop was gaining prominence during the mid-80s Jeff found himself putting away his guitar and drums in lieu of a mixer and turntable. Developing a name for himself within the local Philly area, DJ Jazzy Jeff met Will Smith at a party. “I knew of him, he knew of me,” he explains, “We met by chance at a party. I didn’t bring an MC and he asked if he could get on the mic. There was a natural chemistry, so I called him the next time I played, and he said yeah. And it never stopped.”
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince continued to collaborate and soon the hip hop duo blew up, creating hits such as Boom! Shake the Room and Summertime. It was their 1989 hit Parents Just Don’t Understand, however, that landed the two with a Grammy – the first one to ever be awarded for a rap song. Popularizing hip hop and certainly contributing to the mainstream crossover of the genre, the duo maintained a squeaky clean image. Jeff explains they never grew up in the suburbs, they were in the inner city and saw the same things everyone else saw, they just chose not to focus on that. “We just wanted to have a good time,” he explains.
Discussing their creative process together, Jeff says he was the guy who did the music, and Will Smith was the one who wrote the lyrics. The overall understanding of the importance of the whole musical project was what aided their relationship further. “It was almost like a team,” he explains, “Each member on the team has to sacrifice something for the group goals. Him being like my brother, would fight me like a brother. And that taught me later on when I was producing other projects that one without disagreement isn’t a good project.”
Their upbeat and energetic music, coupled with its videos caught the attention of none other than Quincy Jones. In the works of creating an all-Black sitcom, he was in search of an animated lead star. Jeff explains the attention attracted from their videos led to people noticing a different kind of talent Will Smith possessed. “We were on tour and he told me, ‘Quincy Jones wants me to read for a television show.’ We laughed and thought that’s cool! He came back and was like, ‘Yo! I got a TV show!’ But we didn’t take him serious…When he showed us the pilot, we all expected it to have been filmed on a camcorder so we were like, ‘Oh shit! You got a real TV show. This looks like something on NBC!” And he laughed, ‘It is!’” They all flew out for the first episode where Jeff was asked if he wanted to be on the show. Both had zero acting experience. Nonetheless, the sitcom was a huge success.
The short six hour days on a television set were new to Jazz, who was used to slaving away for eighteen hours a day in a studio. The “camaraderie” of the actors and workers on set was what made the experience invaluable for Jeff and provided for an extended “Fresh Prince family”. He explains James Avery and himself bonded over a mutual love of jazz music, each discovering new music through the other. The end of the show was inevitable, however Jazzy Jeff admits he “thought it’d last forever”. He explains when he finished his last scene, he had a tear in his eye. He looked across to the catering and set, grabbed his bags and went to the airport.
The end of Fresh Prince gave Jazzy Jeff more time to focus on his music and his production company – A Touch of Jazz. He produced Butterflies with Michael Jackson, describing the King of Pop as “extremely professional” providing for a “great experience”. He has also worked with soul songstress, Jill Scott, who is a “dream” to Jeff. “I don’t like rules and regulations,” he explains, “She was so raw and didn’t have any rules so everything happened in an organic way. We did nine songs in a week. That’s how I like to work.”
Looking forward to his return to Australia, Jeff cites checking out the local music scene as a huge appeal every time he visits. A bona fide fan of Hiatus Koiyote (having donated money during their campaign), Jeff says the Australian music scene is always buzzing with some really cool people and DJs.
BY TAMARA VOGL
