You may not be familiar with Jersey Club Music, but for some of your favorite artists, it's been instrumental in moulding their soundscape to what it is today. Dance music powerhouses Diplo, Skrillex and Cashmere Cat through to underground taste-makers Inkke and Sinjin Hawke have all been openly inspired by its raw, sample-driven sound.
Evolving from Baltimore Club after artists like DJ Tameil started putting their own twists on B-more drum breaks and kick patterns, Jersey Club is one of the most influential genres in modern music, with the dance moves that accompany the songs regularly taking on lives of their own, as seen in the recent Running Man Challenge.
DJ Jayhood is one of the most respected and popular Jersey artists in and outside of the state and scene. His remixes of dance classics like "Show Me Love" and "Heartbroken" have racked up millions of plays online, while original productions like "Hands on Ya Hips," "Jersey Anthem" and "Patty Cake" are considered all-time Jersey dance classics.
Along with producing surefire Jersey anthems, he’s also worked for Sharaya J and Missy Elliott, and coined his own sub-genre of Jersey Club called Booty Bounce Music (or BBM).
We've got the premiere to what is going to be an iconic album for Jersey Club music... King is one of the first albums of its kind, with Local Action collecting Jayhood’s greatest hits, as well as a few fire cuts out of the archive. While it’s important to trawl YouTube for the dance contests and home-made videos to get a key understanding of what the genre's all about, the raw power of these tracks stand up in their own right. Check out the heat below.
We caught up with DJ Jayhood, who told us how he got into Jersey Club and what it means to him today below.
Hey Jayhood - firstly, how did you first get into producing?
My brother Hide Flocca actually got me into producing. I never thought about doing it, I went to his house one day to hang on the regular like we always did and he was on the computer and told me I should try out a program called FL Studio, it's for making beats. At first I said "nah I'm not doing that" and then I actually went and tried it out and haven't stopped ever since.
What's the Jersey Club scene all about?
It's mostly about being creative in your own and bringing that amazing feeling to make people want to dance. It's our own culture.
Who were your musical influences growing up?
I was a big fan of Max B, Meek Mill, Missy Elliott, DJ Tameil, DJ Tim Dolla, Just Blaze, Timbaland.
What's popping in the scene currently?
Right now it's many different things popping in the scene. Everybody doing they own things creating new lanes for the Jersey Club movement, I can't just point out one thing because everyone is out here grinding but I do like what Adolf Joker, Lil C4, DJ Sliink, Team Lilman is doing. I like what everyone is doing but those are just a few of my favs right now.
What are your moves for the rest of the year?
Not only am I a producer and DJ but I'm also an artist and right now I'm working on a mixtape that will feature just me, and the whole project will be produced by me. I just dropped a tape called Fuck Next I Got Now that everyone rocking right now.
After you've listened to 'KING' above, check out our tracks of the week right here.
