When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong: Grandmaster Jay
To get the full point of this post, please watch the following injustice. If you can make to ‘1:33’, I promise that you won’t be disappointed. If you can make it though the whole thing, I commend you, and pray that you don’t hurt yourself laughing. Disclaimer: This by no means and advert for Beamz (should be obvious, unless they send that check).
A moment of silence for Flo-Rida’s relationship to “Hip-Hop”.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
By now, the world should know how the internet works. Most people have a full understanding of how fast information travels these days. Even more people have, at least, a basic understanding of right from wrong. Lying is one thing that the internet doesn’t like (the conscious internet). To quote one great lyricist, “That’s the $&^% I don’t like.” (I’m joking Chief Keef is not a lyricist, nor is he great. But I digress. Please don’t shoot me.)
For the past week I have been watching Grandmaster Flash’s online presence. Usually it is filled with random mentions about how his last show went, who was there, or how much of his gear got held up in some airport. Over the last few days, controversy has festered, and eventually the internet came to the rescue. For myself, and many other other hip-hop fans, it was seemed inevitable that “beef” would show it’s head (I always wanted to say that).
Grandmaster Flash considers turntables to be his canvas, and his hands the brush(es). To say that he takes it seriously is an understatement. A few years ago, as a student, I had the opportunity to interview him on-air with three other peers. After the show, we watched him perform (Also saw DJ Jazzy Jeff perform in the same venue. *for those made it through the whole video*), and our minds were blown.
If there is anything that I learned from the whole experience, as a fellow DJ/musician, from the whole experience, it is that you always respect the effort and time that someone sacrificed to get where they are. So in a way, I guess I respect Chief Keef too, because he is doing what he has to do to get paid (He could do it in a different way. I lied about digressing.).
Grandmaster Jay is a someone who did not learn the same lesson. His claims of being an innovator in turntablism This whole situation makes my stomach hurt. He is just now learning how the backlash of the internet works. People live to troll during their downtime. I don’t condone it, but this time, it was awesome to see everything unfold.
So, not only was biting someone’s name (Brand) not enough, he went as far as dubbing a commercial over Jazzy Jeff’s set. C’mon son! If he was the legend he claimed to be, he would have put a hold on the whole shoot. It’s obvious that the marketing team associated with this whole fiasco has no set of morals either. Check out these before and afters floating around the internet (Photoshop snobs beware).
I truly digress this time. Thank you internet. From the bottom of my heart.
Who I Want to Work With 
I just saw this Grandmaster Jay in Cleveland and began researching him and all the drama he stirred up this past November. Ive read a ton of negative and positive stuff about this dude that has come out in the last two months and I must say that he has gotten more publicity than any other dj I have ever seen. The Beamz demo he gave was actually pretty solid with the turntables and Serato together. I wouldn’t use it though. But it seemed more people were interested in him rather than the gear. I saw the new video he just posted and read the interview he gave to some magazine and now it all makes sense to me. This was an Old School dude that got back in the game and did it by hook or crook.I don’t jump on bandwagons without doing my research and Im not biggin this guy up for how he did it but see for yourself. A lot of us are just hearing the name Grandmaster Jay outside of the hardcore dj world for the first time minus the drama. Watch this video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNPBRUfZFWw The magazine interview is at https://www.facebook.com/TheLegendaryGrandmasterJay/posts/660230590685162Is this guy the next Paris Hilton level Celeb DJ?? He’s gettin booked?