What do we really know about DJ Jazzy Jeff?  My knowledge used to stop at the cartoon character of a man attached to the Fresh Prince in the ’90s. But as it turns out, he’s pretty legit. I saw him perform at a Fourth of July celebration in downtown Philly a couple years back. It was humid as hell, Boyz II Men were there, I was eating a cheesesteak and TastyKakes, and DJ Jazzy Jeff spun old-school funk and R&B for an hour or two… so it was pretty much the ultimate Philadelphia experience. I was amazed at how solid he was. No one else seemed to be all that surprised.

Check out the album of instrumentals he released in 2007 called The Return of the Magnificent–especially this really smooth track simply called “Hip Hop.” (Or try it with lyrics. Or hear the whole album.)

Brook Reeder