Episode #244 | 8.5.25
Run-DMC (Pt. 2): Loyalty, Betrayal, and Who Shot Jay
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In this episode
Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay helped take hip-hop global, but behind the decks was a man under pressure – fiercely loyal yet financially strapped, and secretly entangled in a dangerous world he couldn’t spin his way out of. So when the music industry turned cold and the bills stacked up, Jay made choices that brought the streets back to his doorstep. This is the true story behind his murder: a tangled web of old friends, bad drug deals, silence, and betrayal. And it’s part of hip-hop history that no one wanted to talk about – until now.
Sources
How I Unravelled the Jam Master Jay Murder Mystery (Frank Owen’s Criminal Minded)
Exclusive: Hip-Hop Icon, Neighborhood Hero, Drug Dealer, Murder Victim (Frank Owen’s Criminal Minded)
Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip-Hop Hustler: Queens Reigns Supreme, by Ethan Brown
Eastern District of New York | Two Queens Men Convicted of Drug-Related Murder of Run-DMC D.J. Jason Mizell, Also Known As "Jam Master Jay" (US Department of Justice)
Jam Master Jay dabbled in drug sales 'to make ends meet,' witness testifies (AP News)
'Greed and revenge' drove 2 men accused of killing Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay, prosecutors say (AP News)
'I Was Scared': Jam Master Jay Witness Details DJ's Final Seconds at Trial (Rolling Stone)
Streets is Watching: 50 Cent Part Two (AllHipHop)
50 Cent Writes A Letter To His Younger Self & Notes Lessons From Jam Master Jay (Ambrosia for Heads)
Credits
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Zeth Lundy.
Mixed by Matt Beaudoin.
DISGRACELAND theme song, “Crenshaw Space Boogie,” written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava, and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak