Styles Davis and DJ Jazzy Jeff at Red Bull Music 3Style IX World Finals (Credit: Julian Melanson)
During the Red Bull Music 3Style IX World Finals in Taiwan, DJ Jazzy Jeff sat down with DJcity’s Styles Davis for an in-depth Q&A about DJing. The legendary party rocker discussed a variety of topics, sharing his wisdom throughout the talk.
What 3Style means to him:
“This became my most inspirational week of the year … You don’t ever get chance to spend a week with your peers that you can kinda talk a complete circle about what you do. And you start to realize that after that week was over, you were more excited to play, you had more weapons in your arsenal …”
How the scene has shifted from EDM to hip-hop:
“It’s natural. … If you are fortunate to be around long enough, you realize that everything is in cycles. … Anybody that was around in the ’80s can easily identify that EDM is nothing but [Afrika Bambaataa‘s] “Planet Rock” with a little twist on it. … the Joey Bada$$‘s, the J. Coles, and the Kendrick Lamars, that’s just the rebirth of ’90s hip-hop with a twist on it. …”
If technology is making DJs less important:
“I am never afraid of technology replacing me until technology enables you to look around and see how people are vibing and make adjustments … If you want to keep a job, you have to let your employer know how much you’re needed. You gotta go in that club and play like there’s no f#cking machine that will ever be able to play like this. …”
Watch the convo below and stay tuned for DJcityTV’s mini-documentary about 3Style IX.
Related: Watch: Inside DJ Jazzy Jeff’s 2018 PLAYLIST Retreat