Incident at P&L District shocks DJ Jazzy Jeff

[Deberg_1990]

Wow......Unreal.



http://www.kansascity.com/226/story/1238798.html



Another day, another racial controversy at the Power & Light District.

For a year, the black community has been in arms about perceived racism at the entertainment district, a place their tax money helped fund. But it’s always rebutted. Everyone is welcome at the P&L, officials say.

Well, those who follow the hip-hop music scene have more to chew on since late Saturday night, when one of hip-hop’s icons, DJ Jazzy Jeff, cut short a set of music and left the stage in a dispute over the kind of music his show was spinning.

I walked in just as he was walking off the stage. He had performed less than 30 minutes.

The crowd booed and I heard people, both black and white, yell about how the Power & Light didn’t want him to play hip-hop. I wasn’t sure what happened, but I knew it was bad.

A conversation I had with him early Sunday confirmed it.

He might be best known as one half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, but he is more than Will Smith’s old DJ and friend. The two won the first rap Grammy.

Jeff Townes, his given name, is legendary. He introduced “transforming,” the scratching technique turntablists use. This man has toured for 25 years. He’s an acclaimed producer.

So what exactly happened?

According to his tweets (twitter.com/djjazzyjeff215), he was kicked offstage for playing hip-hop. Jon Stephens, president of the Power & Light District, says it was about the sound levels.

“The issue that arose with the performance last night was completely about the sound levels,” he said Sunday. “His audio tech was maxing out the sound system to a point that risked damage to the speakers and sound system. His sound techs and management refused to bring the decibel level down. They were told to bring it down or cease performance. They refused to go on.”

Hours after he returned to his Philadelphia home, I spoke to Jazzy Jeff on the phone to hear his side.

His set started with sounds of hip-hop and pop favorites — Jay-Z, Biz Markie, Rihanna. His MC, Skillz, hyped up the crowd.

But after 15 minutes or so, in the middle of an R&B hit by Ne-Yo, “Miss Independent,” he was told to stop.

“My road manager walked up to me and said they were having problems with the music I was playing,” Jazzy Jeff told me. “I played three more songs and he comes back. I knew something was wrong. They said I had to kick Skillz off the stage, change the format of the music I was playing or quit. They said if I continued playing they had 30 cops ready to come escort me offstage. So I stopped.”

Jon Stephens says that isn’t so.

“Obviously we have a desire to book a diversity of acts,” he said. “We booked Jazzy Jeff on a Saturday night, the biggest night of the week in the district. We were excited to have him there. It’s unfortunate that his sound and management people had problems adhering to the sound and audio rules. We wanted him to play. That’s why we booked him.”

Jazzy Jeff was excited to play here too.

But it all went wrong. Venue officials said the set attracted the wrong kind of element, he says.

“They said they didn’t like Skillz’s posture,” Jeff said. “They said he made gang-like signs and grabbed at his genitals.”

So P&L officials wanted him offstage. But Jeff felt it was wrong because Skillz is no gang member. He is a father. His hand gestures were the kind of excited movements you make to get the crowd excited.

He wasn’t cursing or being offensive.

“I was playing Rihanna; she is Top 40,” he says. “If they would have let my set play, they would have known I play everything. I play rock, funk, soul, pop, hip-hop, reggae. I don’t play for a certain genre, race or gender. I play for music lovers.”

In his 25-year career, at 44 years old, Jeff has never been told to end a set because of hip-hop. He says he has never felt that kind of racism. The “element” that officials referred to felt like a reference to black people, a hip-hop crowd.

“I’m in shock,” he says. “I didn’t understand what element they were talking about. I looked out in the crowd and it was multicultural, but about 75 percent white. Everyone was having a great time. I wondered what was so offensive. I never had a race issue. I didn’t know how to feel. I was playing ‘Just a Friend.’ Is that offensive? What element? It’s uncomfortable when you feel unwanted.”

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Dottefan

I am not an outsider in my community. What would you even know about my community, just from your post I can tell you have no idea about the black community that I come from. I have never had an issue in the my community for being mixed race, the only problems I had was from my white side. I did not gang bang but almost all of my friends did. Before I hit 19 I buried 9 friends, two of them murdered right in front of me. I did not sell dope but alot of of my friends did, so I am well versed on that lifestyle.You see I thought I wanted to be in that lifestyle when I was younger, all my friends were doing it...so I wanted to. I had some friends that were not in the lifestyle, but growing up in the neighborhood that I did, it was just normal to have friends that you known sense grade school turn to that life..but I had a great father, and other role models to look up to that guided me away from that..some of those peopl were gang members and drug dealers, who knew that I could make something out of myself and kept telling me I don't need to be around this shit.......so you keep your narrow minded views, on what it means to be a "real black man in the hood" you don't know shit about me or the kids I work with, and that shows in your post.

i know about disadvantaged youths in KCK trust me

[SAUTO]

i grew up living between armourdale and juniper gardens, just so you know

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Dottefan

I think bill "o racist" oreilly is a bigot. I will never change my view on that.

I'm curious now. Why do you think that? Give me specific examples.

[Dottefan]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

i grew up living between armourdale and juniper gardens, just so you know

damn bro..lol...so if you are from the Dotte, then why try to blast some one who is trying to help kids from the dotte. I went to Wyandotte,Harmone, and Argentine too, so I have some friends from armourdale, and the AGT. I grew up off of 22nd and Quindaro. I have allot of friends from 3/1 down in the gardens and thats were I spent allot of my teen age years. I was just down in the Gardens Monday at a birthday party for my girlfriend, who just like me is from the hood(junipar gardens) got out graduated from KU and will start her masters program at KU this fall. I only give this example because this is what we try to show the kids, you can become somebody , you can move out of the hood, but you can still be apart of your community and help out.......and don't listen to people who tell you that because you live in JO that you are a sell out, or that you forgot were you come from..you dig

[Dottefan]

Originally Posted by Lzen

I'm curious now. Why do you think that? Give me specific examples.

Really........you are not worth my time. What ever I post you will refute it, and this will go on for a few pages..so lets just save us both the hassle. I dont like him, and you do.......lets just keep it at that.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by frazod

No, last night you accused us all of being rich, white and 50. It seems to be one of your defense mechanisms of last resort - anybody who would dare to disagree with you must be some powerful oppressor of your rights.

I hate to break it to you, but no powerful oppressor of your rights would bother to post on this board or engage you in any sort of discussion.

Good points. The only one of those 3 things that I fit is being white.

[Dottefan]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Good points. The only one of those 3 things that I fit is being white.

This is not what I said just to let you know..MCjones said this.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Dottefan

Really........you are not worth my time. What ever I post you will refute it, and this will go on for a few pages..so lets just save us both the hassle. I dont like him, and you do.......lets just keep it at that.

If you can prove to me with specific quotes (not BS taken out of context stuff like the NYT does), then I might be inclined to believe you. If you make statements like that, people are going to call you out on it. Despite what you might think, I would never watch some skin heads or kkk people if they had a show. I just don't see why you would call BO a bigot. I have never seen that.

[Dottefan]

Originally Posted by Lzen

If you can prove to me with specific quotes (not BS taken out of context stuff like the NYT does), then I might be inclined to believe you. If you make statements like that, people are going to call you out on it. Despite what you might think, I would never watch some skin heads or kkk people if they had a show. I just don't see why you would call BO a bigot. I have never seen that.

Then we will agree to disagree. I think he is.

here you go


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Extra! Update June 2003

O'Reilly's Racist Slurs--in Context

By Peter Hart


In April 2003, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly hosted a fundraiser for Best Friends, a charity benefiting inner-city schoolchildren. As reported in the Washington Post (4/15/03), O'Reilly was trying to fill the time before a singing group connected with the charity, called the Best Men, was set to perform, and quipped: "Does anyone know where the Best Men are? I hope they're not in the parking lot stealing our hubcaps

some more

"We'd save lives because Mexican person of Hispanic heritages, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes--they're not going to do what they're doing now, all right, so people aren't going to die in the desert." He then offered the "last word" to his guest, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D.-Texas), who did not address O'Reilly's slur at all, but instead tried to explain why he thought using the Army to patrol the borders was a bad idea. (O'Reilly reneged on his promise to give Reyes the last word, interrupting him with a rebuttal

During a segment (2/9/00) about black athletes suing over the minimum academic standards for college admission, O'Reilly commented: "Look, you know as well as I do most of these kids come out and they can't speak English."


Will African-Americans break away from the pack thinking and reject immorality--because that's the reason the family's breaking apart--alcohol, drugs, infidelity. You have to reject that, and it doesn't seem--and I'm broadly speaking here, but a lot of African-Americans won't reject it" (2/25/99).

After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly told a radio audience he “couldn’t get over the fact” that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia’s and other restaurants.

“It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun,” he said. “And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.” O’Reilly said his fellow patrons were tremendously respectful as he ate dinner with civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
…
“That’s right,” O’Reilly said. “There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M.F.-er,
I've been to Africa three times. All right? You can't bring Western reasoning into the culture. The same way you can't bring it into fundamental Islam

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by Lzen

I'm curious now. Why do you think that? Give me specific examples.

Because he's an old white, rich, and super right winged conservative.

I dont think he is but that would be my guess of what he's thinking.

[Dottefan]

Some more for you..........and just so you know, I think Al Sharpton and Farrakhan are just as bad as Racist Oreilly



“In
“Searching for a word to describe someone who assists immigrants crossing the border, O’Reilly came up with ‘person of Hispanic heritage’ (2/6/03). The incident was explained away by Fox officials as an unfortunate gaffe (New York Times, 2/10/03), but the Allentown, Pa. Morning Call (1/5/03) had O’Reilly using the same racist term in a speech earlier in the year: ‘O’Reilly criticized the Immigration and Naturalization Service for not doing its job and not keeping out ‘the person of Hispanic heritages.”” O’Reilly denied making the comment (Washington Post, 2/17/02), but the reporter stands by his account.” (Fair.org)
“In support of his proposal to militarize U.S. borders, O’Reilly remarked, ‘We’d save lives because Mexican person of Hispanic heritages, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes–they’re not going to do what they’re doing now, all right, so people aren’t going to die in the desert.’” (Fair.org)
“.’” (Fair.org)
“‘’” (Fair.org)
“MediaMatters)
“In a February 27, 2006, conversation with a radio caller about the disproportionately few jobs and contracts that have gone to locals in the rebuilding of New Orleans, O’Reilly said: ‘[T]he homies, you know … I mean, they’re just not going to get the job.’” (MediaMatters)
In responding to a contributor noting that by mid-century the US would no longer be predominately white, O’Reilly responded: “Yeah, but by then we’ll all be dead. Thank God!!” (Daily Kos)

[Dartgod]

Dottefan, can you provide links for those? I'm not disputing them, just curious where they're coming from.

[Frazod]

O'Reilly is a rude, bullying douche. Even when I happen to agree with his position, his methods are deplorable.

Typical segment:

1. Introduce a guest who has a conflicting point of view.
2. Immediately announce why said guest is wrong.
3. Talk over guest when he begins to defend his position.
4. Begin yelling if the guest continues to speak.
5. Go to commercial if the guest yells back, getting in one last snide comment.

Frankly, I don't think O'Reilly is intelligent enough to debate most of the people who have posted in this thread. Debate isn't what he does.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Dottefan

damn bro..lol...so if you are from the Dotte, then why try to blast some one who is trying to help kids from the dotte. I went to Wyandotte,Harmone, and Argentine too, so I have some friends from armourdale, and the AGT. I grew up off of 22nd and Quindaro. I have allot of friends from 3/1 down in the gardens and thats were I spent allot of my teen age years. I was just down in the Gardens Monday at a birthday party for my girlfriend, who just like me is from the hood(junipar gardens) got out graduated from KU and will start her masters program at KU this fall. I only give this example because this is what we try to show the kids, you can become somebody , you can move out of the hood, but you can still be apart of your community and help out.......and don't listen to people who tell you that because you live in JO that you are a sell out, or that you forgot were you come from..you dig

theres no "if" it's a fact. whats funny is that you say you went places you cant even spell. and the letters you are using arent even close to the letters on the keybaord so no mistake there, WTF???

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Dottefan

Then we will agree to disagree. I think he is.

here you go...

In April 2003, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly hosted a fundraiser for Best Friends, a charity benefiting inner-city schoolchildren. As reported in the Washington Post (4/15/03), O'Reilly was trying to fill the time before a singing group connected with the charity, called the Best Men, was set to perform, and quipped: "Does anyone know where the Best Men are? I hope they're not in the parking lot stealing our hubcaps...

Ok that is bad, if true. But at the same time, he was hosing a fundraiser for inner city schoolchildren. WTF? I mean, if he were truly racist, why would he want to help out inner city schoolchildren (which I think is probably safe to assume that means mostly minorities).
some more

Originally Posted by Dottefan

"We'd save lives because Mexican person of Hispanic heritages, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes--they're not going to do what they're doing now, all right, so people aren't going to die in the desert." He then offered the "last word" to his guest, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D.-Texas), who did not address O'Reilly's slur at all, but instead tried to explain why he thought using the Army to patrol the borders was a bad idea. (O'Reilly reneged on his promise to give Reyes the last word, interrupting him with a rebuttal...

Ok, that was a racial slur. Did he mean to use that as slur or was it a slip of the tongue? If he normally speaks this way and just slipped on camera, then that is pretty bad.

Originally Posted by Dottefan

During a segment (2/9/00) about black athletes suing over the minimum academic standards for college admission, O'Reilly commented: "Look, you know as well as I do most of these kids come out and they can't speak English."

Now I don't necessarily see that as bigoted. I assume he means use proper English or proper grammar. Just look at your own posts. Your English teacher would have a field day with your grammar. However, I don't agree with O'Reilly that most can't speak English.

Originally Posted by Dottefan

Will African-Americans break away from the pack thinking and reject immorality--because that's the reason the family's breaking apart--alcohol, drugs, infidelity. You have to reject that, and it doesn't seem--and I'm broadly speaking here, but a lot of African-Americans won't reject it" (2/25/99).

I don't know what to say here. He is right about things like alcohol, drugs, and infidelity breaking apart families and societies. But I would say that's a social class issue, not a racial issue. And I don't agree with using that broad of a brush.

Originally Posted by Dottefan

After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly told a radio audience he “couldn’t get over the fact” that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia’s and other restaurants.

“It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun,” he said. “And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.” O’Reilly said his fellow patrons were tremendously respectful as he ate dinner with civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
…
“That’s right,” O’Reilly said. “There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M.F.-er,
I've been to Africa three times. All right? You can't bring Western reasoning into the culture. The same way you can't bring it into fundamental Islam

I'm not even sure what the point is of this. Was he trying to compliment in his old school way? Or was he simply giving a back handed compliment? If it was the latter, then yeah, that's kind of bigoted.
OK, there are a couple of examples. I will give you that. What is this source? Is it legitimate? Honest question because I have never heard of it.

Like I said, I don't watch Bill O'Reilly religiously or anything. I just catch his show occasionally when something piques my interest. I never saw any of these things or heard about them. If this stuff is true, then you have a decent argument that he is somewhat bigoted. I still don't understand why he would be at a benefit for inner city children if he were a bigot.