The legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff has taken to XXL to lend his advice to Independent Artists, stating that may not need to go the traditional route of radio play, major labels and press.
Adriela Batista
DJ Jazzy Jeff revealed that it was Mac Miller and Odd Future that truly inspired his thoughts on artists going independent. After a sit down with Mac, Jazzy Jeff states that he opened his eyes to a new route, causing him to reflect:
“What’s crazy is my introduction to all of this started with me linking up with Mac,” he said. “The first conversation that me and Mac had, he sat me down and taught me so much more than I’ve learned in the past 20 years. ‘Who are you making the music for? Why are you trying to be so engulfed in selling music? Why don’t you worry about getting your fan base up and they’ll love everything that you do instead of putting so much emphasis on, “I gotta sell music?”‘ It was such a mind-blowing thing for somebody who’s been in the industry for 30 years to have this 19-year-old school me from top to bottom. But it definitely changed and shaped everything that I’ve done. Me asking Mac, ‘Yeah man, you’ve ever played in Philly?’ And he’s like, ‘Ah man, I sold out [TLA] nine times.’ ‘What? I didn’t know about that.’ You know why? Because it’s not on the radio. You know why? Because his fans know already. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ I’m so busy looking for advertisement in the place that I’ve always looked into advertisement that what I’ve realized is that when you have a one-on-one line of communication with your fan base, you don’t need radio. You don’t need press. You don’t need nothing. That’s why these guys are functioning without a record company.”
