:::: HANDLE ISSUE 006 COVER STORY: Julius Erving FEATURES: Al Green, Magic Johnson, The 1986 Boston Celtics, In Memory of… PLUS: Signature Series SHOEnanigans, Club 45 – The NBA’s High School Players, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Chaminade University, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and more!

MUSICAL GUEST: JAZZY JEFF

Seminal deejay, scratch artist extraordinaire and music producer Jeff Townes is widely known as the turntable half of pop-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and as Will Smith’s scene-stealing half-wit mate Jazz on the long-running US television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Flaunting street convention, the pair made fun records in the late ‘80s about block parties and pretty girls, avoiding the obligatory violence and politics of gangsta rap in favour of a broader crossover appeal.

Jeff invented the playful sonic backdrops that Will sunnily rapped over and together they won two Grammy Awards and notched up half a dozen US Billboard Hot 100 singles, including the ubiquitous tracks “Summertime,” “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” and “Boom! Shake the Room.”
During that time, Jeff founded Touch of Jazz Studios, which works as a collective where producers and artists collaborate on achieving the best albums possible rather than focusing on hot singles. It was through Touch of Jazz that Jeff produced his own debut album The Magnificent.

Once Philadelphia’s most credible deejay, Jeff has since built a career as a star-making producer, launching ‘neo-soul’ into the mainstream with top-selling artists Jill Scott and Musiq Soulchild while working with other musicians De La Soul, Lil’ Kim, Eminem, and Michael Jackson.

Taking a quick break from putting the finishing touches to his sophomore solo album The Return of The Magnificent, the diehard 76ers fan spoke with handle about Philly basketball, Philly music -- and the future of both.

Do Philly fans have a love/hate relationship with all of their sporting teams, or just the Sixers?

Philadelphia has the most passionate fans of any place I’ve ever seen. We all know we’re very hard on our teams and players, but the passion Philly fans have is just amazing.

Were you raised on Wilt Chamberlain stories?

Growing up you couldn’t help but hear about Wilt and Hal Greer on those old teams. Wilt was larger than life. He grew up in Philadelphia and he played high school ball here and people remembered that. He went away to play college ball in Kansas but then he came back to Philly as a pro. He was just such a huge icon of the court in Philly.

Philadelphia’s basketball history features many larger than life personalities – players like Chamberlain, Erving, Barkley and Iverson. Has that always been the Philly style?

I don’t know why it is, but it’s been a really big part of the Sixers and I think that’s one of the reasons why we haven’t won a championship recently. That being said, right now it’s a major issue right across the NBA. Philadelphia is just so into having that name – that Allen Iverson, that Chris Webber – rather than having the Eric Snow and the Aaron Mckie.

Is it time for the team to move in a new direction – one away from Iverson?

No, I don’t feel that it’s that time yet. I’m an Allen Iverson fan and you have to put the right team around him to give him the opportunity to help him win.

Why is the town so loyal to Allen?

I grew up watching Dr J., I saw the ‘72 championship, and then there was a big, long lull. To then get Allen Iverson and to go back to the championship series against LA…it was really special for Sixers fans.

Do you think Chris Webber is the right fit for the team?

I look at a team like Miami – they have Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, Dwyane Wade Shaq, veterans, superstars, and everyone else. Right now we have Allen Iverson and Chris Webber, that’s it.

What more do you need?

You don’t even know: when Payton hit that shot [in Game 4 of the 2006 Eastern Conference semi-finals against New Jersey on May 14], it was because he’s been there before. You look at all of these teams going deep in the playoffs and it comes down to the experience of your team. Other than Iverson, the Sixers don’t have the players that have been to a championship series before that can elevate your team and take that shot.

Are you wishing Eric Snow back?

I’m looking at what Eric Snow is doing for LeBron James [in Cleveland] and I know we shouldn’t have gotten rid of him. We shouldn’t have gotten rid of Aaron Mckie either. He played defence, he was a veteran, he could have helped out a lot of the young players -- and the Sixers have a lot of young players. I’m not saying that Andre Iguodala isn’t better than Gary Payton right now, but he hasn’t been to the finals and played in all the situations that Gary has.

Philadelphia is famous for its R&B, Soul music and jazz. Do sport and music ever run together in your mind?

Grover Washington [Jr.] and Dr J. were big around the same time so I definitely do associate them. Grover used to play before games and things like that. I see Dr. J and I hear Grover.

Why hasn’t hip-hop grown in your city like it has in most places across the US?

I think Philadelphia is all about soul, and Gamble and Huff, and Patty LaBelle, and Teddy Pendergrass. It has such a rich music tradition when it comes to soul that hip-hop often gets overlooked.

Are The Roots changing that?

The Roots are so important. They don’t get their just due -- for being a band, for what they do, and how long they’ve been doing it. As respected as they are, the day is going to come when you look up and go, ‘wow, look at how popular and important the Roots are.’

This handle issue is dedicated to all things ‘Old School.’ How do you feel about being labelled that way?

That doesn’t bother me one bit. To continue doing what I’m doing, I am blessed. You can’t help but be grateful to just be regarded as classic. It doesn’t even matter what for.

So, it’s not frustrating when you’re recognized as Jazz [his TV character in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air] and not Jeff?

I appreciate the blessing of being recognised at all. You can’t really care how people know you; just that they do. I do shows that all these people come out to and some of them know me from producing and some know me from The Fresh Prince and that’s great. I don’t care why I get you in, just that I get you in. The whole goal is to not be pigeonholed. It would be the same way if I did a movie: if you’re a fan of my music, come see my movie, I’ll show you what I’m about now.

Who do you want to work with next?

I would love to work with Sting, definitely, and I would love to collaborate and make music with Stevie Wonder at some point. I had a really big dream to produce and create music with KRS-One and that will hopefully happen in late June.

And after KRS-One?

I just built a new studio and I’ve really gone crazy with it. I’m going to bury myself in there and try to put out as much material as I can, as fast as I can, without compromising the integrity or quality of the product. I’m looking to finish up Return of The Magnificent by the end of the summer, so I’m really excited about that.

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