Jam Master Jay death: 'Brazen murder' of Run-DMC star was fuelled by greed and revenge, prosecutors say
Monday 29 January 2024 Reemul Balla
The DJ was fatally shot in his New York studio in 2002. Nearly two decades later in 2020, two men, Karl Jordan Jr and Ronald Washington, were charged with murder and on Monday their trial got under way.
Run DMC star Jam Master Jay was killed by his godson and a childhood friend who were both motivated by greed and revenge, say prosecutors, as the defendants' murder trial began.
The 37-year-old DJ, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was fatally shot in the head in his New York recording studio in 2002.
He was part of one of the best-known rap acts of the 1980s.
In 2020, Karl Jordan Jr and Ronald Washington were charged with murder and on Monday their trial got under way in New York City.
Prosecutors said godson Jordan and childhood friend Washington became enraged after being cut out of a lucrative drug deal.
Mizell had allegedly acquired 10kg of cocaine which Jordan, Washington and others were planning to sell in Baltimore.
However, the dealer involved in the sale refused to work with Washington, removing the defendants from a possible $200,000 (£157,000) payday, prosecutors alleged.
On 30 October 2002, the two men allegedly entered the star's studio in Queens in an "ambush".
Prosecutors say Washington waved a gun and told one person to lie on the floor, while Jordan shot Mizell in the head at point-blank range, killing him instantly.
Another shot hit and wounded another man in the studio at the time, Mizell's friend Uriel "Tony" Rincon, before the pair fled, prosecutors said.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, they could face at least 20 years behind bars.
The death penalty is not being sought for either defendant.
The jury was told they would hear from witnesses who were in the studio that evening and that the pair confessed to others about their involvement in the incident.
Miranda Gonzalez, prosecuting, said it was a "brazen murder" adding: "Each defendant was proud that they had taken down Jam Master Jay and got away with it."
What does the defence say?
Jordan's lawyer, John Diaz, said his client wasn't even at the studio on the night of the shooting.
His legal team has said in court documents that Jordan, then 18, was at his pregnant girlfriend's home at the time of Mizell's death and witnesses could state that.
Washington's lawyer Ezra Spilke argued the case was held together with "tape and glue" and stated prosecutors have "no clue" who killed the DJ.
Mr Spilke questioned why Washington would want to kill Mizell since Washington relied on the rap star financially.
"Why bite the hand that feeds?" Mr Spilke said. "Why kill the one man that was helping you?"
A third man, Jay Bryant, was arrested and charged in 2023 and he will be tried separately in 2025 or 2026.
Run-DMC stood against drugs in their lyrics, but Ms Gonzalez said as careers waned, Mizell became involved in them and could make "hundreds of thousands" of dollars with a few simple calls.
The group also included rappers Joe "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, and they had hits such as King Of Rock, It's Tricky and a reworking of Aerosmith's Walk This Way.
There were many theories about who killed Jam Master Jay.
1) 50 Cent had released a song about Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, leader of the Supreme Team gang and McGriff was not happy about it. He ordered a hit on 50 Cent (50 was shot 9 times) and placed a ban on 50 Cent's music. Radio stations would not play 50 Cent's songs and studios would not record his music.
However, Jam Master Jay was one of 50's mentors and his radio station played 50's music. Some believe that Jam Master Jay was killed because of this.
2) Jam Master Jay had campaigned gainst drug use in the 1980s and 1990s. However, he became broke and owed the government (IRS) a lot of money in back taxes. Some say that he turned to drugs to earn money to pay the IRS and that he was killed because of a drug deal that went wrong. They say that he was owing his dealer.
3) Some say that his godson and childhood friend killed him because they were cut out of a drug deal.
I was looking for an album or video version, but I could only find live versions, but now I have found an album version.
Do you know that he might have been killed because of 50 Cent? I think I've told you the story before, but I'll tell you again.
Sometime around 1999 I heard this funny song by an unknown rapper called 50 cent. I guess that the song explained why he was called 50 Cent. The song was basically about how he was poor and was planning to rob all the stars. I can no longer remember all the stars that he wanted to rob (I haven't heard the song since 1999), but I remember the stars that responded. Jay-Z and Big Pun counter attacked on their tracks, but my favourite response was by Wyclef Jean, who rapped, "If 50 Cent came to rob me, he'll become part of my charity" (basically saying that he was so poor that if 50 Cent came to rob him, he'll have pity on Wycleff and donate to him).
Anyway, I didn't hear from 50 Cent again till 2003 when he released several hits. I wondered what had happened to him because it seemed like he suddenly appeared and disappeared again, for no reason at all.
Well, 50 Cent made fun of a mobster in that 1999 album. Not only did he make fun of the mobster, he actually revealed some of the mobster's illegal activities. The mobster subsequently issued a ban on 50 Cent. No radio station would play his songs and no record company would have any dealings with him. 50 Cent had to move to Canada in order to be able to release music. That's what led to the problem.
Jam Master Jay owned a radio station and his radio station played one of the songs that 50 Cent released while he was in Canada.
Armed men broke into the radio station one night in 2002 and killed Jam Master Jay and injured the other person that was with him. Many people believe that he might have been killed because his radio station defied the ban.
However, others say that Jam Master Jay, who was usually a law abiding person, was owing the IRS a lot of money and that he tried to get into the cocaine business so that he could pay off the government. They claim that he was killed because he didn't pay his supplier for the cocaine that he sold.
naptu2: A minute's silence in honour of Jam Master Jay.
I'm not certain about who killed Jam Master Jay, but this is the most persistent rumour.
I first heard 50 Cent in 1999 when he released a single called How To Rob. The song caught my attention because it was humorous and he name checked quite a lot of stars (he was rapping about stealing from these stars). Quite a few rappers responded to the track (Jay Z, Big Pun, etc). Most of them launched counter attacks, but the reply I loved the most was not a counter attack. Wyclef replied with, "Low Income, I stay so hungry that if 50 Cent came to rob me, he'd be part of my charity".
Anyway, 50 Cent vanished after that track and I didn't hear him again until he released Get Rich Or Die Trying in 2003 (I was thinking, "I've heard this voice before". It took me a while to remember How To Rob). So, what happened to him between 1999 and 2003?
Well 50 Cent also released a track called Ghetto Qu'ran in 1999 and the track was about the activities of a notorious mobster called Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and his gang which was called "The Supreme Team". McGriff was not too happy about this and he ordered that 50 Cent should be blacklisted from the US music industry. Columbia Records dropped him and radio stations refused to play his songs. McGriff also put a hit on him and it's believed that this was what resulted in 50 Cent being shot 9 times in the year 2000. He had to move to Canada in order to be able to record mixtapes.
Jam Master Jay had gone into production during Run DMC's decline in the early 1990s (he founded JMJ Records) and 50 Cents was one of the first people he produced. Jam Master Jay continued to mentor 50 Cent after he left JMJ Records and even after he was blacklisted by McGriff. It is believed that this infuriated McGriff and on October 30th, 2002, at least two armed men invaded 24/7 Studios which was owned by Jam Master Jay. They shot and killed Jam Master Jay and injured other people that were in the studio at the time. One of the armed men was Ronald "Tenad" Washington, who was shot dead a few weeks later.
His death pained me because Run DMC were the most peaceful and harmless rappers that I could think of.
Run DMC was made up of rappers Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and their DJ, Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell. Run's brother is the hip hop mogul Russell Simmons (Def Jam, Phat Farm) and he and his Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin produced and promoted Run DMC.
It was revealed during an episode of Run's House (on MTV) that it was actually Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons' idea that Run DMC should do this song. Run DMC didn't really like the idea of doing the song at first. They eventually did the song and it became the first rap song to get into the top 5 of the Billboard charts. I absolutely loved the original version of this song and I love this version even more because it brings two of my favourite groups together. Many people have tried to mix rock and rap together, but only a few have succeeded. This, in my opinion, is the best mix of rock and rap ever.
In the video we see Run DMC trying to rehearse, but they can't because Aerosmith is rehearsing in the next room and Run DMC can barely hear themselves because of the noise from Joe Perry's guitar. They try to tell Aerosmith to turn it down, but that doesn't work. Then Jam Master Jay had an idea. He went out of the room and came back with ginormous speakers. The wall of sound that emanates from those speakers stops Aerosmith in their tracks and roles are switched as Aerosmith is now trying to get Run DMC to turn down the noise. Steven Tyler eventually breaks through the wall and confronts Run DMC.
Then we see them on stage. The groups are competing over which group can wow the audience, Joe Perry vs Jam Master Jay; Run and DMC vs Steven Tyler. Eventually. . . they collaborate.
The original was
Aerosmith - Walk This Way(1975)
This is
Run DMC featuring Aerosmith - Walk This Way(1986).
What do you do if you are a legendary group that's had tons of hits, but your recent releases have all flopped? Well, you pull out all the stops and come out with guns blazing. That's what happened here.
It was a new decade and hip hop was undergoing a revolution. Run DMCs songs flopped and barely made it into the charts. They turned things around by
1) Getting every rapper that was a rap star to appear in this video. I'm talking about Kriss Kross, Naughty By Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, PM Dawn, Salt N Pepa, KRS-1, Jermaine Dupri, Das EFX and many more.
2) Getting younger rappers that were on top of their game to feature on the track. Pete Rock & CL Smooth featured on this track.
3) Going back to what worked. This song contains a lot of rhymes from old Run DMC songs like Sucker MCs (1983) and Run's House (1988).
It worked. The song was a massive hit.
Run DMC featuring Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Down With The King (1993).
There are some artistes that release a song, then vanish (they are like one hit wonders), then appear again many years later (and you'll be wondering if it's the same person) and then they'd disappear again, etc. That's what this series is about. It was inspired by the second person that I'll feature.
This particular song had moderate airplay on radio stations (even in Nigeria). I remember the song because I thought it was funny and also because some of the people that he mentioned responded. There was no video, so I didn't know what he looked like and I kind of forgot his name because he vanished after this.
Then he reappeared in 2003 with gigantic hits and I was wondering if it was the same person. Nobody mentioned his 1999 song and it had me confused.
50 Cent's First Incarnation
Here's what actually happened. He exposed a mafia boss in the 1999 album. He didn't necessarily do it in a bad way, he just rapped about the guy. But the mobster did not want publicity and he felt that the song made it easier for the police and the FBI to know what he was doing. He blacklisted 50 Cents. No radio station in America could play 50 Cent's songs. No studio would record his material. Nobody would book him. In fact, he ordered a hit on him (that's why 50 Cent was shot).
50 Cent had to go to Canada to record more music and the songs flopped because nobody would play them.
In fact, people thought that this was the reason that Jam Master Jay of Run DMC was killed. Jam Master Jay owned a radio station and his radio station played the music that 50 Cent recorded in Canada. Armed men entered the radio station one day and shot him to death. However it was later discovered that Jam Master Jay had his own problems.
Nobody talked about the fact that 50 Cent was blacklisted. That's why I thought that he had vanished.
However the FBI arrested the mob boss (for another reason) and their investigation revealed that he had ordered the hit on 50 Cent. That's when people started talking about the issue. It was after this that 50 Cent released his 2003 album that was a huge success.
I remember that a lot of rappers responded to this song. People like Jay-Z and Big Pun insulted 50 Cent, but my favourite response came from Wyclef. He didn't insult 50, instead he went one better. He rapped,
I stay so hungry that if 50 Cent came to rob me. He'd be part of my charity
This was the first 50 Cent song that I ever heard.
Now this is what I keep telling those who try to compare crimes in USA and Nigeria, this is one of the major difference, the system there constantly seeks to find justice for the victim(s) because the government puts in conscious efforts to do that, can you say the same about Nigeria?
I have seen cases that happened in the 1960's being solved in the 2020's in America, the government puts in conscious effort to deliver justice no matter how long it takes even if the whole people involved are all dead.
The 'wheel of justice' grinds on ever so slowly, even in sane societies. .. I remember when Run-DMC did "Down with the King" with Pete Rock and CL Smooth some years back. Good jam!
Supreme team. Crazy dudes. 50 cent, Suge Knight, Nas, terror sqaad, Wutang clan, mobb deep, death row, bad boy records, etc
Not to be messed with back then, especially Suge Knight.
Nas rapped on 'memory lane'
My intellect prevails from a hangin' cross with nails I reinforce the frail with lyrics that's real Word to Christ, a disciple of streets, trifle on beats I decipher prophecies through a mic and say "Peace" I hung around the older crews while they sling smack to dingbats They spoke of Fat Cat, that nigga's name made bell rings, black Some fiends scream about Supreme Team, a Jamaica Queens thing Uptown was Alpo, son, heard he was kingpin Yo, Bleep, rap is real, watch the herbs stand still Never talkin' to snakes, 'cause the words of man kill True in the game, as long as blood is blue in my veins I pour my Heineken brew to my deceased crew on memory lane. ..
Nas also rapped on '10 points'
Take it from a street dude, you don't need to be a street dude Get a lawyer, read your contract, and eat food Become a Bird, a Flack, a Lionel When you catch flack, that mean they got they eye on you Produce great results, they start to lie on you Is it love for a Queens dude in Supreme shoes Or did the street code expire with these dudes? Especially now, I don't expect you to bow, but stand Creating jobs, named my venture from after the land I came from, that's unheard of A hood that's known for murder now doing mergers The streets is a lie, don't believe these dudes, jail or death is all you get They tell you never move, but when they get money, they split.
Then Nas rapped on 'death row east':
Before Machiavelli the Don left Booked a flight, flying out West We was trying to squash the whole shit in Vegas No media to eat it up and leak it in the papers Eric B, Big D, and Preme was affiliated Peace to Edi, Napoleon and all the innovators We had respect before we was ever some entertainers See Suge, he was a dangerous threat Mob almost turned half of New York red Brothers I grew up with threw up their sets Some even had them Death Row chains hang off they necks There's a rumor that spread I'd like to address Pac was never set up by Stretch (let it rest) I stepped to him at Bryant Park so we could speak direct He didn't disrespect, we planned to reconnect I flew to Vegas to shoot the Street Dreams video and link with Tupac Tried to squash the East Coast West Coast beef We didn't talk But he was still alive in the hospital And it rained that day in Vegas (yo, chill out, chill out, yo) Rest In Power (hold on) This is my n- Nas and we both got one thing in common We both, we both represent Queens to the fullest, aight? This brother was good enough to stop his show And I want everybody in here Everybody stand up on their feet first and foremost, please At 7:03 PM New York time, 4:03 PM Las Vegas time Tupac Shakur passed away y'all Give me a moment of silence
rap and rock.