Kool DJ AJ has passed way, according to a social media post from Kurtis Blow.
Kool DJ AJ deejayed for both Kurtis Blow and Busy Bee.
The New York native got his start in the entertainment business as a promoter, according to a 2006 interview with Tha Foundation.
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After earning his reputation as a deejay, DJ AJ says he went to see Busy Bee perform at Bronx River Center, a renown Hip Hop venue in the late 1970s.
“Busy Bee is up there and that nigga is gun slinging,” DJ AJ says during Tha Foundation interview. “He is tearing the house down, but he is duplicating Love Bug Star Ski. He is doing everything that Love Bug does. But he says his name is Busy Bee Star Ski. I didn’t like that. I said, ‘This dude is crazy.’ I knew Love Bug, so I didn’t like that, but it was his delivery, he is rocking this muthafucka. He had just broken up with the L- Brothers and that I believe was because they didn’t have any concept.
“Theodore was freelancing, Busy Bee, everybody was freelancing,” DJ AJ continues. “So I said, ‘I am going to try and get Busy Bee with me.’ But I am going to have a problem with his name. But his style was ridiculous. So I go up to him and I say, ‘Yo, my man.’ He was star struck. I tell him, ‘I am going to let you play with me. I am going to make you the highest-paid emcee in New York, nigga.’ I asked him how much he was getting paid. He told me something that couldn’t touch what I was offering him. I told him I would give him 400 to 500 a night. ‘You with me. You with A.J.’ He said, ‘OK. It’s like that.’”
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DJ AJ Broke Kurtis Blow’s “Christmas Rappin'”
Elsewhere in the interview, DJ AJ recounts the first time he played what would later be known as Kurtis Blow’s 1979 single “Christmas Rappin’” during his deejay set at the Audubon in New York.
“[Grandmaster] Flash, [Grand Wizard] Theodore and [Afrika] Bam[baataa] and so many other people that were hip hop stars were there,” DJ AJ says. “So I come back on with Kurtis Blow. When the crowd heard this, they went crazy. The whole spot started rocking. I gave Kurtis Blow the mic and said, ‘Go ahead and do your thing.’ Yo, Kurtis Blow rocked it. He rocked it. Here go[es] Russell [Simmons, who managed Kurtis Blow at the time]. ‘Yo A.J., we owe you the fucking world.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know you do.’
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“The record exes are there and they are chasing him and Russell now,” DJ AJ continues. “So I catch Russell at the end and he got about five or six appointments. ‘When we sell the record, our first date is going to be with you AJ, wherever you do it at,’ [Russell Simmons said to me.] The next day on the radio, ‘Christmas Rappin” is playing.”
The social media posts from Kurtis Blow, Ice T and others are as follows:
RIP DJ AJ. Hip Hop Legend! https://t.co/DNk4gJfZeu
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) September 9, 2015
http://twitter.com/ItsDJEclipse/status/641663784021544960/photo/1
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HipHopDX sends its condolences to DJ AJ’s family and friends.
