Third Eye Blind's Jenkins Remembers Jam Master Jay

11/07/2002 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Brett Anderson

(11/7/02, 5 p.m. ET) -- Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins took time out to share thoughts on Run-DMC turntablist Jam Master Jay, who was laid to rest earlier this week in Queens, New York. Jay was gunned down at a Jamaica recording studio on October 30.

Jenkins was one of the producers on Run-DMC's last studio album, Crown Royal, and was a guest on the band's last single, "Rock Show." He also performed with the band during the NFL playoffs a few years ago. He told LAUNCH what kind of man Jam Master Jay was, and how his murder seems senseless.

"He's just like the sweetest guy, you know. He was such a nice cat. It was really funny, he made a bet over a football game with a friend of mine and he lost the bet. And no one had to ask him to get their hundred bucks. He pays up," he said with a laugh. "And he was just a peaceful soul. I just don't get it. I really don't."

Jenkins blames the hip-hop culture's values for the death of Jam Master Jay. "This whole gangsta mentality is the stupidest f--king thing ever," he said. "It's so stupid and the thing about it as a culture what we're doing is celebrating the bully. That's what these guys are, they're bullies, thugs, or whatever you want to call it. It's just a bully mentality. And we're like, 'Wow, neat!'"

He added, "We're like high-fiving the guys who's going out and capping motherf--kers with his nine, which is somehow a celebration of inflicting pain and suffering on people. And he [Jam Master Jay] didn't. Run-DMC didn't, they were always smart, and smart-ass and funny. They were hard, but the were also responsible for what they were saying and doing."

Third Eye Blind is currently in the studio finishing work on its new album, Crystal Baller, which is scheduled to hit stores in February 2003.

-- Darren Davis, New York

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