Jam Master Jay murdered?

[platinumk777]

fuck... this is a damn shame. RIP JMJ

[bez]

dam this is totally fucked up.  SGV gets my love because he said it like it is, people who use guns to deal with problems are cowards.  R.I.P Jay, we are still even after all these years, shedding so many tears.

[The Big Bad Ass]

Damn. I hate to hear that. RIP

[=[Euthanasia]=]

This was even on the news in the UK yesterday, thats just shows how important a figure he was/is. It's funny though because alot of us here praise these rappers for being hardcore and doing all this 'gangsta' shit but then when it really comes down to something like this we feel angry, quite contradictive really.

* 7O4D shakes his head

[Myrealname]

"KRS-One Speaks About JMJ
by - Krs-One
10/31/02 7:34:19 PM "

*By now we have all heard the news regarding the passing of Jason Mizell, affectionately known as Jam Master Jay. Times like these remind us that no matter how much we choose to promote Hiphop as a money-making product, the truth of the matter is that Hiphop is one family. If Jam Master Jay was just the maker of a music product, his death would not have moved our souls. But Jam Master Jay is Hiphop! And when a respected and revered light in Hiphop diminishes, those connected to Hiphop feel the loss. If only for a moment, we realize Hiphop’s ability to create heart-felt experiences that go beyond entertainment. With every tragedy we seem to become more aware of our connectedness. In mourning it is easy to see how we are all connected and how one life can affect us all. In shock it is clear that we must all unite against crime and injustice, not promote and market it! But such realizations only seem to come about in the center of tragedy. And still, such realizations do not last long enough in the minds of the people to effectively create change.

How unfortunate! We must decide collectively to care for one another, respect one another, and support one another before tragedy strikes. Sure…now that Jam Master Jay has left us, now everyone will seek to honor him and his contributions to the art of Deejayin. But how many of us honored him when he was alive?! Sure…now RUN DMC’s music will get some air play again, but what about the struggle RUN DMC and Jam Master Jay went through in their lives to get their music heard across the airwaves and on television? It seems like the only way to be honored in hip-hop, is to be dead! We got it backwards! This is why we must never stop “preaching” and “teaching” about the unity of Hiphop as culture, and the true essence of Hiphop as consciousness. One day we shall reverse this destructive trend of immaturity and cultural carelessness, and awaken our people to the reality of our Self-empowerment through Hiphop. For this is what we feel when certain Hiphop personalities die or get seriously injured—we feel our cultural connection to them. We don’t even have to know the person personally, all we have to know is that they are sharing our same urban experience—and the connection is made. This is the essence of what is called Hiphop Kulture.

Whenever our need to care or show remorse arises, especially for those that we do not personally know, true Hiphop is being expressed. Through Hiphop, we feel our connectedness to something beyond the accumulation of material goods. The outpouring of remorse for the passing of Jam Master Jay proves the existence of a “Hiphop” culture, and also exposes our neglect for the development of such a culture. For if Jam Master Jay is great, what is he great in? For if Jam Master Jay is to be respected, upon what history shall we draw from to view the evidence of his reputation? What is the name of the cultural group that mourns the death of Jam Master Jay? Which world culture shall remember forever the contributions and achievements of Jam Master Jay? It is obvious that “Hiphop” is the answer to all such questions. However, what isn’t so obvious is why Hiphoppas have not matured yet to the point of self-government. For if we exist as a distinct, cultural group, let us follow the high principles of our group. Let us not continue to embarrass and degrade our group. Let us unite and organize our way out of the continuous cycle of such tragic events. Let us stop treating Hiphop as a product, or exclusively as entertainment, and begin to unite around Hiphop’s cultural principles so that we may minimize the tragedies in our collective Hiphop experience. Jam Master Jay, I wish you a wonderful journey.

KRS-ONE
The Temple of Hiphop*

[Don Seer]

This was even on the news in the UK yesterday, thats just shows how important a figure he was/is. It's funny though because alot of us here praise these rappers for being hardcore and doing all this 'gangsta' shit but then when it really comes down to something like this we feel angry, quite contradictive really.

* 7O4D shakes his head

Yeah I saw Tim Westwood talkin about him on the news.

[MC Tim]

R.I.P. JMJ

[Head Honcho]

It's a fuckin shame that a man who spoke up against violent rap lyrics became a victim of the values he tried to fight

R:I:P   |   Jam Master Jay   |   Your death was truely meaningless

[Myrealname]

JMJ: In Their Own Words:
By The Hip-Hop Community



We have decided to let some of the people that Jay influenced speak for us.

Q-Tip: This is foolish. Just for me, growing up in Queens - in the same neighborhood I remember everybody aspiring to be like Jay. We related to them. He represented our neighborhood with such pride. If not for them, we probably would have jobs. Its the irony of having to meet his death on his own turf.

Mike Bivins: Jay was a big brother to me. From day one, since the first New Edition/Run-DMC tour, which was our first ever tour. He taught me my first business lessons. How artists get paid off of their albums and royalties. Huge because it opened my eyes to the music game. Plus we played ball and connected spiritually. He smiled when he saw me. It was like I was his little brother!

Luke: I'd like to say a good man has passed. People need to know that this is a serious black eye for hip-hop music. RIP Jam Master Jay.

Dennis Page, Publisher of XXL: All of us XXL Magazine send our condolences to the Mizell family. Jam Master Jay was a true hip-hop pioneer. He will never be forgotten.

Mr Len: This is becoming more of a sickening trend, will anybody involved in hip hop actually die of natural causes? One of the biggest influences to our culture is gone. Bigger than BIG and Pac. Jam Master Jay represented a dying breed in what "HIP HOP" is...the DJ. And to be executed in a studio of all places. Its disheartening to think that a KING is not safe in his castle.

Redman: I'm fucked up. I swear I'm never trusting none of these pussy niggas, EVER!

EDI From The Outlawz: Niggaz is dumb! We always killin the wrong nigga! I'm starting to lose faith in us man! R.I.P. Jam Master Jay!

Clipse Manager, Anthony "Geezy" Gonzales: We all grew up on them. Malice is really feeling it. We all just met him in Puerto Rico. We are fans and we always will be!

MC Serch: He was one of the first people I met in the game 16 years ago. He took me to my first coliseum show in Upstate NY. I will miss him and remember all of the great times we had on tour.

Kimora Lee Simmons: My family is absolutely devastated! Jay was a wonderful family man, and a legend. our heart goes out to Terry, the kids and the mizell family....God bless

Kim O'Sorio, Editor In Chief Of The Source: Here at The Source we are all deeply saddened and shocked to hear the news of JMJ's murder. Whenever a tragedy like this strikes the hip hop community, we take it as a wakeup call. Let's hope that this time we make a sincere change in hip hop.

Kool DJ Red Alert: Not only did we lose a great DJ, we lost a man that helped so many for hip-hop. Onyx, Famelee, etc. He made DJ's look important in this game.

Pharoahe Monch: Music legend. I remember the first time I saw Run-DMC at the Apollo. I had goosebumps. He had remarkable timing. Incredible showmanship and it served as an inspiration. It's sad because I wanted to see my hip-hop heroes grow old like other musicians. But it seems so unlikely.

Professor Griff: Someone just shot hip-hop. A part of me died last night. He will live in those of us who love and respect life and this thing called hip-hop.

Hi Tek: My love goes out to him and his family! Jay is "the deejay" is the biggest thing that inspired me to wanna be DJ. That's how I learned how to scratch, imitating Jay!

Steve Rifkind: He was a true gentleman. A ground breaking DJ that loved hip-hop. He was just a great guy that loved music.

Bowlegged Lou: Jay was so much more than a talented D.J. and Producer...he was a real person, a great person, a good friend and one of my peers.I last saw Jay 6 months ago when he was so happy tellin me that he found out that we signed a singer and friend of his (that he once signed). Also We (Full Force) did a couple of Fresh Fest tours with Run DMC back in the early 80's. Jay also played in some of our celebrity basketball games too. He was also a finder of talent, discovering and producing Onyx. I love and respect Jay. He will always be a part of the history of an art form that he helped revolutionized. Its Like That & That's The Way It Is. On behalf of Full Force, I send out our condolences.

Sway: Jay and Run-DMC inspired me to rap which ultimately triggered a part of my hip-hop journey. Losing him is like losing a family member. These dumb asses in the streets need to put down their guns and protect their souls, Before your karma catches up to you.

Timbaland: Man, I can't just can't believe this. Shit's crazy!

AZ/Sosa: In the game of life, who really wins? We lost a true veteran to the game. Before the Gangsta rap, befre the "bling, bling," Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay stood holding the game down against all odds. R.I.P. Jam Master Jay.

Mystic: In the most awful shocking way this makes me remember anything can happen to anyone and it's never fair. Those of us still here have no answers to the questions left..I really have no words for this I grew up listening and admiring him. I never thought it would end.

RZA: is Its a major tragedy. Jay was a good brother with a good spirit and he was humble and graceful. He used to always hit me up on the 2way sending blessings or something to that nature. He is a true pioneer of hip hop and one of first DJ's I ever wanted to emulate. He is truly was a master hip-hop. Another lost to senseless violence.

[Myrealname]

Lyor Cohen Statement On Jam Master Jay:

"This is definitely the most difficult note I have yet to write. A note necessary only because of this convoluted world we live in and its fascination for distorted, embellished truths. It's really important for the record to be clear and precise. Remember, Jason does have three kids, a wife, mother, brothers and sisters and they should only be subjected to the truth.

Jason is a beautiful person, a husband, an amazing father and a gracious friend. He is a person who in the due course of his everyday would offer people his smile and his help just because he was Jason...

It was Jason who I reported to from '82-'85 as Run DMC's road manager. Jay showed me how to settle shows and fulfill my responsibilities to the group. It's those lessons from that period that I rely on daily in order to do what i do.

Jason befriended me and always showed me great kindness and the utmost respect. While Darryl McDaniels (my roommate) was shy, Joey was always ''run", it was Jay who had the friends because he was friendly and interested whether you were simply a fan or a local dj. Jay always engaged in dialogue and made people feel important. Jay's eyes always made contact and his smile never far behind. Jay has the best smile because it is genuine.

Jay's smile is what I already deeply miss. Jay's smile was a conversation, so many words in his smile.

Jay and his group Run DMC have always been about the most positive things - never taking a detour to negativity. The group Run DMC helped establish Def Jam. I personally want to work hard to champion the positive over the negative- and to help remind me, I will keep Jason's smile so very close to my heart. "

[Myrealname]

"STATEMENT FROM RUSSELL SIMMONS

-- CHAIRMAN OF HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK -- ON JAM MASTER JAY For nearly 20 years, Run-DMC has been the closest thing to gospel artists that the contemporary music community has had. They talked about God and their higher selves, the importance of staying away from drugs, and generally inspirational and uplifting subject matter. They represented everything good and positive about hip-hop.

Jam Master Jay was a longtime family man and one of the founders of the group that knocked down all of the doors for hip-hop, and a dear friend of mine. I loved him. I will miss him. He is irreplaceable.

Before the media rushes to attribute this to East Coast West Coast violence, they should examine Run-DMC¹s two decades of contributions and Jam Master Jay¹s personal character. This has nothing more to do with so-called East Coast West Coast violence than the sniper murders in Washington did.

We at the Hip Hop Summit Action Network offer our sincere condolences to his wife and children. "

[Myrealname]

"Remembering Jam Master Jay
in the Midst of Chaos
by - Davey D "

I'm not sure what exactly can be said at this time...All sorts of emotions are whirling inside my head and to be honest its hard to believe Jam Master Jay [Jason Mizell] is dead...Dude was 37 years old, had a wife and 3 kids.. I believe his oldest son is 15.. And if you ever met Jay, you knew he was a cool cat.. He didn't bring a gangsta persona to the table. He wasn't the type of cat who needed a bunch of body guards when he walked down the street. As far as I knew he wasn't living foul, causing drama or somehow instigating any sort of 'rap feud' which are all but too frequent..

Jam Master Jay was a cool cat and it's for that reason I don't wanna do what we always seem to do when we encounter violent death....I don't wanna simply 'keep it moving' and act like him being killed is no big deal..It is a big deal. I don't wanna put a good face forward and stick the emotions of yet another violent death of another brotha in the back of my mind. There's been one too many deaths and I no longer have room in the back of my mind. I don't wanna fall back on old tired cliches and say things like 'death is a part of life' or 'when it's your time to go its your time to go'. That don't cut it for me anymore. I don't wanna act like this doesn't bother me cause it really does. . I don't wanna give into this unwritten code among us as Black men to not be phased by violent deaths because it's an all too common occurrence..

I don't wanna hold a candle, pour liquor on a curb or go on the radio station and play all my Run DMC records and rebroadcast all my old Run DMC interviews. I don't want Jay's death to be reduced to yet another tribute. It seems like in the past two or three years we've been doing a hella of a lot of tributes. In the past couple of year alone we've lost Big Pun and DJ Screw out of Houston to heart attacks. Too Poetic of the Grave Diggaz passed from cancer, but he courageously recorded his last album while he had the disease. We lost Aaliyah to a plane crash and Left Eye of TLC to a car crash. We lost San Francisco pioneering rapper Cougnut and San Jose's D-Mac who died together in a car crash just days before the Sept 11th attacks. Days after the attack we lost Boogie Knights of the group The Boogie Boys. Many of us are still grieving from last moth's the sudden death of Money Ray of the Cold Crush Brothers. He was diagnosed with cancer in August and died 5 weeks later.

And, Yo, I gotta be honest, I'm still recovering from the emotional upheaval of the sniper killings which just ended last week... I'm still asking questions with regards to Kenneth Bridges-co-founder of Matah. Why did this community activist and community leader have to be killed? Why was it another brother to be the one to take him out? I'm still trying to get over the haunting images of the distraught mother of the 35 year bus driver who was the last sniper victim. I'm still trying to process those heart breaking images....I'm still asking why? I'm still asking why there are 94 murders in Oakland? And I'm really bothered by the fact that damn near everyone I know knows someone who has been killed in the past few years.. And I'm still asking why we seem to take death so lightly? Why do we see life as so expandable? I keep asking myself what happened to the promises and commitments we all made when we came together in '95 during the Million Man March? We promised to uplift and affirm life. What has happened since then? Why is loss of life no longer a big deal anymore? Why is Black life so cheap? What are we doing to ourselves and why? What's going on? Will we ever get it together? Will we as Black people ever get it together...Will we ever get it together? I keep thinking about a song that poet D-Knowledge did a couple of years ago where he asks 'Does Anyone Still Die of Old Age'?

I don't know if we've been able to fully grieve and process all this death. Many of us are still left with unanswered questions as to why? Why did this have to happen? It seems like as soon as we start the process we're hit with another sudden death which means we wind up shoving a lot of feelings and emotions in the back of our minds, doing another tribute and moving on. This time around I don't just wanna do another tribute.. There's just too many tributes to the point that it's becoming routine and that's bothersome for me... Jay's death and for that matter anyone's death should not be routine...

Maybe I'm feeling this way because I'm realizing that in many respects, I still never really got over the deaths of Pac and Biggie and Jay's death is making me realize that.. There's really been no closure despite all the VHI documentaries, articles, movie etc. This morning I was talking to my boy Pharrel over at Roc-A-Fella records and he pointed out something that really hit home.. He told me.. 'I hope they catch the guy who did this.. I hope they catch him because there have been way too many unsolved murders in Hip Hop'. I kept thinking about that and all these names that ran through my mind.. Scott La Rock, Freaky Tah of Lost Boyz, East Palo Alto's Karisma, JoJo from Bored Stiff, Ray Luv's deejay DJ Cee, The Mac out of Vallejo, DJ Quick's partner Mausberg, Pac's homie, Yafeu "Kadafi" Fula, Oakland's Seagram, 2Pac and Biggie... The list goes on...There's a whole lot of unsolved murders in rap and I don't care what anyone says, that lack of closure has an effect.

And while one can easily make the case that there's a lot of unsolved murders in our community in general, one would hope that we would be able to get to the bottom of some of these high profile slayings... The fact that we never seem to solve the murders of some of these artists the same way we don't seem to be able to solve the murders of 'Pookie' or 'Ray Ray' from up the block, underscores the notion that in many circles the loss of Black life is no big deal...It don't matter whether you're a high profile artist or a d-boy on the local corner in the hood. It's like we're expected to die a quick and early death. And even sadder is the perceived circumstances of our deaths are all the same. In other words since last night, I've been fielding a lot of calls from local reporters who seem bent on making this connection to JMJ's death with the deaths of 2Pac, East-West coast feuds and on going beefs in rap like Ja Rule vs DMX and Nas vs Jay-Z. This is not the Jam Master Jay I know.

It's like cats are trying to make the case that perhaps Jay lead a crazy lifestyle that somehow invited the violence that befell him..I don't wanna put JMJ in that category. Almost all the newscast and stories I've heard end with reporters trying to make that connection.. "Jay Master Jay like 2Pac and the Notorious BIG' is in a long line of rap stars who have died violently in a violent rap world". Heck CNN has a poll on their website as we speak..asking who has the most musical influence 2Pac, Biggie or JMJ.. As innocent as it may seem to some, there's something about that poll and the overall approach and questions raised that don't sit well with me.

I don't wanna say Jam Master Jay and 2Pac in the same breath. I don't wanna compare him to Biggie. I don't wanna say JMJ is in a long line of rap stars who died violently...Jay deserves his own space in our minds and hearts. We all need to take time out and reflect on Jay the musician, the pioneer, the man, the father, the husband, the friend, the associate and not categorize and compartmentalize him. I don't wanna see him reduced to another violent casualty in a 'violent rap world' as one TV reporter described it.

Before asking questions about Hip Hop and violence let's began by asking 'Did you know Jam Master Jay?' 'How are you coping with this sudden loss of life?' Are you sad? Are you angry? How will you deal with it and what changes will you try to bring about? 'What type of man did you know JMJ to be?' What did he mean to the community? What did he mean to his family?' .. Words cannot express the hurt, sadness and anger I feel for this loss...

Please take time to hug those you love.. It should be obvious by now..no one is promised tomorrow.. Please take time to say a prayer for Jay's three kids and the wife he left behind Pray for the rest of his family and friends. One can only imagine what they must be going through. Pray that God gives them strength to get through the pain of his death..Pray that they be comforted..Lastly take time to reflect and allow yourself to grieve. Allow yourself to heal.. We've been hit with a lot of stuff over the past few years..

If you wish to post a reflection head on over to their website: http://thadweb.com/rundmc/

Your truly
Davey D

[Instigator]

 

Jam Master Jay was a hip-hop legend... he will never be forgotten.

RIP

[topdogg187]

Jam Master Jay was a hip-hop legend... he will never be forgotten.

RIP

[Sikotic™]

I love how the media, with the exception of MTV and BET and other music news outlets, love to try and blame this on the East Coast/West Coast beef from '96. Such BS man.