ReMastered (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Who Killed Jam Master Jay? - full transcript

[whirring]

[singing]

[cinematograph whirring]

[music playing]

[explosion]

[indistinct chattering]

[footsteps]

[dog barking]

[police siren wails]

[Rahman Dukes] A lot of people feel
like the police don't really care,

about murders
within the urban communities.



But this should've been different.

This is a person who people idolize.

You're talkin' 'bout a man
who's affected millions of people.

He was a larger-than-life figure,
he was Jam Master Jay, ya know,

from the world famous Run-DMC group.

[scratching records]

[Russel Simons]
Run-DMC was like the Beatles.

They was the pioneers, the first to go
platinum, the first on Rolling Stone,

they was the first of everything.

[Dukes] Groups within hip-hop would not be
as popular and signature,

if it wasn't for Run-DMC
and Jam Master Jay.

[scratching records]

[David Seabrook] Jay was the one who made
the beats, who kept the party going.

He's the one that hyped them up,
spinnin' and cuttin'.



[Dukes] He really cut the records
to heighten the poetry.

Jay was a one man band,

and he was the greatest that ever did it.

[news reporter] Jason William Mizell,
AKA Jam Master Jay,

was gunned down last night.

Police say two men buzzed into Mizell's
studio shot and killed--

[Bonita Jones]
Whoever was in the studio, at the time,

they are the only five
that know who killed my brother.

[Eric James] We had 50, 60 different tips,

all takin' some totally different angles
on what occurred.

[Dukes] There was a feeling that

the security cameras
had been tampered with.

[James] If I gotta go through
every borough, every street, every block,

I'ma find out who killed Jay.

[Dukes]
People feel like it's an inside job,

which is why they point back
to the people who was within that studio.

Yes, there were a number of individuals,
who would probably know,

exactly what happened, but...

you know the Tupac's
and the Biggie Smalls'...

these are all unsolved crimes,

-and the feeling is that,
-[clamoring]

...the police don't really care.

[Trini] Urban communities,
they don't trust the police at all.

[Connie Perry]
What could he have done...

that make you want to erase him
from the earth?

[rapping]

I'm having a hard time understanding why.

[scratching records]

[news reporter]
New York City on the verge of bankruptcy.

New York City got the word
today, from President Ford,

"Default if you must,

but don't expect help
from the Federal Government."

I am prepared to veto any bill,

that has as its purpose,

a federal bailout of New York City
to prevent a default.

-[car honks]
-[train screeches]

If the Federal Government
does not help us,

it will find the problem afterwards,

which it would have to help us with,
much more serious.

[news reporter]
Services in the city are being slashed.

Reports of violent crime are on the rise.

You know I can't walk in the streets
no more 'cause I might get shot now.

[news reporter] Middle-class residents
are fleeing to the suburbs,

while working class black families
take their place in the boroughs.

[Simmons] Hollis, Queens was a lower
middle class neighborhood.

People moved from the hood to Hollis.

Right? Seeking a better life.

I remember moving in,

and I remember the last white family
on the block moving out within a week.

[Darryl Mcdaniels] Hollis, probably was
about one mile in each direction.

We was a little community.

We was one strip, we was one avenue,

but we had a global reputation,
like Bed-Stuy do or die.

[Simmons] All the kids around the hood,
that hung up on Hollis Avenue,

those kids became the Hollis Crew.

And Jay was in the center
of the Hollis Crew.

Some of the names of the Hollis Crew
members would, be Randy Allen.

Randy Allen was a friend of ours
that grew up on two, third with us.

We all grew up on 203rd street
and Jay was a part of that.

Big D, Big D was a good friend of mine.

We were like family,
he's like my older brother.

Big D and Jay, they lived
right across the street from each other.

Hurricane, right? DJ Hurricane.

If any problems would come,

from other people
outside the neighborhood,

you know, then we would all form
like Voltron...

and get together,

and protect the neighborhood.

As street as Jay was,

he was good.

He was kinda the peacekeeper,

you wouldn't get your money taken from you
if Jay was around.

So you always hoped,
when you went to the party Jay was there.

[indistinct chattering]

[Seabrook]
Drugs came to Hollis around 1984.

Fat Cat and Ken "Supreme" McGriff,

one of the notorious drug dealers
in South Jamaica Queens,

and I was actually a part
of Fat Cat's crew.

We started off by selling coke.

I made a ton of money at a young age,
I was a part of something...

that it was like family!

[traffic noises]

And it felt good because, don't forget,
half of us didn't have dads.

Mom having to work,
leaving the kids to fend for themselves.

You know how they say, "An idle mind
is the devil's workshop"? That's true.

The drug dealers on the corners
was our friends, was our homies.

Those was our cousins,
those was our brothers.

You know, but the police,
was the guys who we knew,

who were going after them.

They were putting them in jail,

you know, they were trying to,

take their lives away from them.

Now I'm not saying
that these individuals were innocent,

but it definitely,
has always been looked upon,

like the police didn't help.

That was really
just embedded in our minds,

you know, like, as early as when
we was eight, nine years old.

They all went to jail from some dumb mess,
you know?

They was out there,
trying to make their money.

Selling drugs and whatever.

Jay's best friend Randy, was in jail
for a long time.

But Jason never went to jail.

As a man, you don't never
wanna disappoint your mother.

[Seabrook] I never knew Jay to have a dad,
but I think what made Jay successful,

was his mother's upbringing, you know?
She was a teacher.

She taught.

That's what she did 24/7 taught him.

It showed through his work ethic.

-[dog barking]
-[crickets creaking]

[Connie]
Jason was always a beautiful child.

He always loved the music.

If he got two pencils,

he was making sounds. [chuckles]

You know, he made music,

outta ordinary things,
things that you didn't expect.

He had my pans.

He'd be beatin' a tune you know?

[Bonita]
My brother knew how to play a guitar...

and I knew he was going to play the drums
'cause I've seen him play the drums.

[Marvin] I'd say he was about what, 13?

When he was doin' the turntable thing,
learnin' how to DJ...

and break them tables,

my mother go right back
and buy him another set.

You know? Constantly.

♪ Broken glass, everywhere ♪

♪ People pissin' on the stage
Ya know, they just don't care ♪

Around that time,

hip-hop kids created something
that suited them.

They built their own music...

because they felt locked out.

Like the blues, and jazz,
and rock and roll,

were expressions of people who felt
like they weren't part of the culture.

[Dukes] Hip-hop was manufactured by,

the tools, that wasn't supplied to us.

We would have block parties, you know,
plug our equipment into street lights.

There was just a way
to get people together, to congregate,

and just to really have a good time
and just to celebrate music.

[Seabrook]
Back then, rap music was on the uprise.

A lot of people might have,
a couple of turntables and a mixer,

Jay was one of them.
Jay liked to DJ, in his house.

Jay was really on point,

with stopping a record,

on a dime,

-and then bring it back in.
-[scratching record]

No one is mistake-free, but he was very...

very little mistakes.

Everybody started in their house.
'Cause you wanna practice, you know?

Then you take it to the park.

Jamaica Park,
is where all the parties went down.

[Simmons] Before we met Jay,
Run was going to be a solo artist.

Run was a rapper and a DJ,
before rap records happened.

'77, '78, he was the DJ son
of Kurtis Blow.

He himself had been a DJ of course,
DJ Run.

Me and Run made 'It's Like That'
and 'Sucker MC's,'

our first record, without Jay.

Once we got the deal and the record
started to get a little buzz,

it was time for us to go do live shows.

And Russell, Run's brother said,

"Y'all got to do these performances
you'll need a DJ,"

and Run was like,
"Woah, I didn't think about that part."

[Mizzel] Run was tellin' me,

"We gonna have to do a show.
What are we gonna do?"

I already had turntables and records,

and equipment already.

So, we just put together a little routine,
couple of routines.

They made the song in '82,
and we started moving early '83.

[Mcdaniels] When we pulled up,
to pick him up,

for our first show in New York City,

he came out his front door he had on,
a black Run-DMC Godfather hat,

he had on a black Adidas jacket,
with the three stripes,

he had on white Adidas Shell Toes,
with the black stripe

and he had no laces in 'em,

and the tongues of the sneakers'
was sticking up like tombstones.

Like it was sticking up in the air

and Russell had been telling us for weeks,

"Y'all need a wardrobe,
y'all need a wardrobe."

Before Russell could utter it,

"Yo, there goes...
Yo, that's our wardrobe."

So, from that day on,
we had to actually go shopping with Jay.

[Trini] If you look at the early days
of Run and D,

they had on these plaid jackets with
these turtlenecks and afros.

And then if you see it with Jay,
everything changed.

[rap music playing]

♪ Now we're Run-DMC
And we like to rap ♪

♪ And the reason that we do it
Is to make you clap ♪

Jay was very street and a lot of,

what is in that community,
is the hood culture.

They were already wearing shell toes
with no laces,

and backwards hats and, you know,
all that stuff comes from jail.

So, that vibe,

that was an honest...

that was a look at the culture.

So he brought them another layer
of authenticity.

♪ I want y'all to know one thing
This is my House... ♪

[Mcdaniels] Now we doin' these shows,
but we had a problem,

'cause Jay wanted to be Jazzy Jay,

and in hip-hop you can't be a copycat.

So I said, okay, his name is Jason,

I break it down, it starts with a J,

I don't want him to be Grandmaster,

cuz you already got Grandmaster Flash
and Grandmaster Caz.

So the next day Jay comes and I'm like,
"Yo, Jay I got your name."

He goes "Word, okay. What's my name?"

I'm like, "You ready? Drum roll...

You're gonna be the Jam Master Jay."

And Jay was like,
he flipped his collar up, "Jam."

He got souped. He was like,
"I'm the Jam Master Jay."

Like, before the crew even comes out,
before Run and D even comes out,

he goes out there,

and he lets them know,

who the fuck he is.

"Before I bring them out,

let me let y'all know who I am.
Say my name.

Jam Master Jay."

-"What's my name?"
-"Jam Master Jay."

-"I can't hear you."
-"Jam Master Jay."

-I can't hear you.
-Jam Master Jay.

-A little bit louder.
-Jam Master Jay.

-One more time.
-Jam Master Jay.

[Seabrook]
Back then, the DJ was quiet.

The MCs were out the front,
the DJ was just in the back.

They were hardly getting recognition.

Jay made that position,

right, just as important as the MC's.

So he became a celebrity as well.

[scratching records]

[fans cheering]

[Mcdaniels] Most DJs when they get in,
they get a gimmick

and you get dancers,
you get all this Hollywood stuff.

We didn't change
to fit into show business.

Jay took the park parties
and the street parties,

and put it on stage.

To the world it was new,
'cause they hadn't ever seen it.

That's what made him a pioneer.

♪ Now DJ Run's my name ♪

♪ Jam Master Jay, is his ♪

♪ -He's DMC
-It's like that ♪

♪ And that's the way it is ♪

It's always gonna be
the three of us, you know?

Two turntables and two microphones.

The band is just there, for a look,
you know?

It's just where we trying to come from,

to show that we can relate with that also.

But in reality it's all about the street.

♪ We do it in the place
With the highs and the bass ♪

♪ He's rockin' to the rhythm
Won't ya watch it on his face ♪

♪ Go up-town and come down to the ground ♪

♪ -Sucker MCs
-You a sad face clown ♪

[Simmons] They blew up because they made
this honest record that touched a nerve.

Those records were made for the street
without regard for the mainstream.

When the mainstream heard it,
they was shocked.

And they did things that no one ever did.

First Rolling Stone, first gold,

first platinum, first double platinum,
triple p... all that.

[Seabrook]
You know Run-DMC was the first people

to get a major endorsement from a sneaker.

We ain't even talkin' about athletes,
we're talkin' rappers.

And actually before their time,
they were like rock stars.

Hence the reason why they did the song
with Aerosmith.

Aerosmith was like a real '70s,
really hot, rock band.

And they had a real successful song,
called 'Walk This Way.'

[Seabrook] Run-DMC, covered Aerosmith's
'Walk This Way,'

in a way that no other rap group
could've done.

[Trini] So, Jay put his spin on the...
you know, put his spin on the track.

And Run and D, they just took the lyrics
and made 'em real hip-hopish.

There was never no hip-hop
and rock collabos. That never happened.

♪ Walk this way ♪

♪ Talk this way ♪

[Simmons] What Run-DMC did,

was brand new

and opened up a universe
and it changed the world.

-[rap music playing]
-[fans cheering]

[Trini]
They had a white following, but nothing

to the level of once they came out with
'Walk This Way.'

And it gave them
international super-stardom, definitely.

[fans cheering]

Jay made money, absolutely!

And he would definitely share his money,
when he got it.

Like, he really wanted
everybody to do well.

[sighs] He really helped everybody out,
that he could help.

[Bonita]
One Christmas he bought five cars.

He bought all of us cars.

♪ Merry Christmas
And happy New Year ♪

He went through Hollis
delivering gifts to everybody,

and that's where they get
their Christmas in Hollis.

♪ It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens
Mom cookin' chicken and collared greens ♪

♪ Rice and stuffin'
Macaroni and cheese ♪

[scratching records]

[SImmons] Jay was a giver.
The Hollis Crew traveled everywhere.

You know, they took drug dealers
off the street

and they went around the world with them
as security

or whatever role they could get.

[Seabrook]
Darren Jordan aka Big D, and Randy,

Jay helped tremendously.

Randy was a stick-up kid,
that came from robbin' Wonder Bread trucks

and Hostess Cupcake trucks,

that used to deliver to the local bodega.

Randy would rob that person. 600, 700.
Yeah, I remember these things vividly.

But Jay loved 'em above all of that
and put 'em on

and brought 'em up outta obscurity.

[Dukes] As a community, as a race,

there wasn't really too many things
that we could say we had as our own,

you know, for us, the people
who we looked up to was the rappers.

Those were the people who we could relate
to the most

because these were the people
who we saw walkin' around.

You know, who came from the same element
that we did.

Which was ground-zero, the streets,
you know what I'm sayin'?

And they went to a certain point
and made things better for themselves.

They put themselves in a position
to be able to take care of their families.

And they just created this path
of motivation and hope for us.

♪ DJ ♪

[Seabrook] Run-DMC was very,
kinda like, happy rappers.

They were very happy
and poetic and articulate.

Not violent.

That was hip-hop, 1983, '84.

Run-DMC wasn't Gangsta.

[Dukes] In the mid-eighties
towards the late-eighties,

hip-hop had began to take a left turn.

Hip-hop artists,
they were using their voices,

to start messaging about
the increasing racial tension,

that had been goin' on
within the communities.

And over the course of the years,
you know,

hip-hop just got more and more aggressive.

[police siren wails]

[Seabrook] 1988.

Run-DMC started fading.

When Run-DMC started fading,
the entrepreneurial spirit, in Jason,

wanted to have a bigger role
in the music industry

and hip-hop as a whole.
So he started JMJ Records.

Which is Jam Master Jay Records.

I worked for JMJ, I was
East Coast Promotion Manager for Jay.

[Mcdaniels]
Jay's studio wasn't in Hollywood.

Jay's studio wasn't in Manhattan.

Jay's studios was 5 minutes
from where he grew up.

He made it out,

came back and put his roots,

and opened the door,
so everybody else could follow him.

♪ And if you ain't know player
Now you know ♪

♪ I'm Jam Master Jay
This is how I flow ♪

[Mcdaniels] He got with Onyx,
he did The Afros,

he discovered 50 Cent.

There it is, like, it's crazy.
He discovered 50 Cent.

♪ People know who I am
Everywhere that I go ♪

♪ Whether I'm dressed like a star
Or a regular Joe... ♪

50 Cent is considered one of the most
successful artists

out of Queens and New York City alone,
within the rap game.

[Seabrook] Jay was significant, you know?

He had three children

and he had his mother,
then his brother Marvin,

then he had his sister Bonita,
then he had his nephew.

And then he had Randy,
and then Randy's family.

He was helping a lot of people.

He took care of quite a few of the fellas.

Did they need a new outfit?
He had money, he bought it.

[Trini] He didn't change,
he didn't let the fame change him

and that was one thing I liked about him.

You know, people, they love Jay,
people love Jay.

You know, that's why,
I can't believe what happened.

This was very haunting, you know?

[wind blowing]

It's raining that night.

It's cold.

It was a cold rain that night.

I was in jail. I was in prison.

I was just really,
just starting a 10 year sentence.

I was home.

I was in Atlanta.

I remember the night perfectly.

I turned the news on, ten o'clock news.

[news reporter] At this point nobody
can say why this happened...

Jam Master Jay...

[Mcdaniels] There was a rumor all across
The United States and Europe,

that Jam Master Jay got shot and killed
in the studio.

I remember trying to call everybody,
for like...

I called Jay, of course.

About 10 times, he wasn't picking up.
So I start getting a little nervous...

Then I turned it to PIX 11...

We are live at Jamaica Queens tonight.

37 year old, Jam Master Jay,

was gunned down
while inside a Jamaica Queens...

I remember having
the worst stomach ache, right,

right after that, so...

My stomach just started killing me.

So I turned to channel two,
"Jam Master Jay shot and killed."

[Marvin]
By the time I come back to the studio,

everybody's outside.

The news done spread out.

I'm like, I'm telling a cop, who I am...

and I just wanna know one question,
is he dead?

[indistinct chatter]

They called me on the phone and said that,

"Oh I heard that Jason got killed."

I was like, "who the hell is this?"

"Who is this? No he didn't!"

[news reporter] On Wednesday night
in Jamaica Queens,

one or two men
were buzzed into Jam Master Jay's studio,

real name, Jason Mizell,

the disc-jockey of rap group--

[Mcdaniels] Then they showed a scene
of the body-bag carried down the steps.

And when I knew it was true was,

as soon as me and my wife pulled up,

I saw Chuck D of Public Enemy,

and Ed Lover crying like babies.

And I never saw 'em cry.
I'm talkin' about babies.

So that's when I knew Jay got shot.

I took my cell phone and I fucking...

demolished it, on my fucking floor.

Til it was fuckin' pieces,

and I started crying

and my kids is like,
"Mommy what's wrong with Daddy?"

Then I had to get it together,

and I just went up-stairs in my room,
and closed the door.

So...

I couldn't sleep all night.

I couldn't believe it.

Shocked,

er... sad,

tear, you know?

My man, my friend Jason? No.

Jay was like a Godfather from Hollis.

You know what I'm sayin'?
That's just like...

in fuckin' The Godfather,
if the Godfather got shot,

everybody else want to know,
well, who the fuck was with him?

How'd you let him get shot?

You know what I'm saying? So...

that's how I seen it, you know?

It's like, yo, who the fuck is with him?
How'd you let him get shot?

To know that you disliked my child so much
that you can shoot him,

that was hard,
it's still hard for me to accept.

I would love to be livin' and find out.

And just look at them.

I wouldn't want to say nothing to them.

Because, maybe some things,
I'm not supposed to know.

[Dukes] Jay was killed like,
off of Jamaica Ave, in Queens.

The most popular strip,
in the entire borough.

You have a police station
right across the street

and there were five people, you know,
who were present inside that studio,

that was outfitted with security cameras.

This happened right here in my backyard.

You know? And it just, felt like, damn!

Like, you know,
why does this keep happening?

Biggie Smalls was killed, you know,
similarly like with Tupac.

We always felt like,
they were so protected,

that nothing could happen to them.

They were like our Supermen,
they were our superheroes, you know?

Superheroes don't die.

[sobbing]

These are all unsolved crimes
and the feeling is that,

the police don't really care.

They look at it, as like,
"Let them kill each other."

[crowd clamoring]

[Dukes]
The faith within the urban community,

as a whole, in government

and law enforcement,
has definitely decreased.

One of my biggest fears was that,

Jay's case could be swept under the rug.

I had a newborn son
and I remember thinking to myself,

over and over again,
that something had to change.

I wanted to show that we can shape
a better world for our kids.

That it could definitely be,
justice for all.

At the time of
the Jam Master Jay situation,

I was a journalist at MTV.

And with Jay
we wasn't just going to leave it as,

"it's another unsolved hip-hop crime."

This was an opportunity to begin
to close the gap,

between the urban communities
and law enforcement.

But I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

The police didn't seem to have
a murder weapon,

fingerprints,
or any other substantial evidence.

But that wasn't going to stop me.

It was my personal mission,

where I felt I owed it to myself,
I owed it to the community.

I even owed it to my family
and overall to this culture,

to get to the bottom of what happened
to Jam Master Jay.

[Bonita] I think he knew,
that something was going on.

Somethin's goin' on.

Cuz he kept,

you know it was like he was watching
his back so much, you know?

The night of Jay's murder...

Jay had a gun on him.

Maybe he knew there was some conflict
that was coming his way.

[Dukes] One of Jay's childhood friends,
from the old Hollis neighborhood,

Ronald Tinard Washington,
said he was at the studio that day.

[Seabrook]
Ronald Tinard Washington is my cousin.

We all lived in the same block.

I heard Tinard was staying
at Jason's mother's house on two third,

with Bonita cuz he didn't really have
no where to stay.

And again,
that was the kindness in Jay's heart.

[Dukes] According to Tinard,
Jay gave him $200 to go buy bullets.

Tinard also claims that,

"Jay was scared,"
and "he wanted protection."

The day of the murder,
Jay's group 'Rusty Waters'

was in the studio,
preparing to go on tour...

[rap music playing]

♪ When ya double down boy
You gonna owe me twice than that ♪

Let me do it again, let me do it again.

My name is Rodney Jones.

I'm Jason's nephew.

My Uncle Jay was making
the beats for me and my group.

And we was about to come out.

It was me and Jay's home boy,
this guy named Randy.

[Dukes] Jay had JMJ Records
and he brought Randy Allen on,

as his partner, in his business.

They went on to create a label,

of their own
and one of the groups that they signed

to the label that was distributed through
Virgin Records was Rusty Waters.

Randy and his nephew were actually,
the members of the group.

[Rodney]
Me and Jay was talkin' for a little bit

and I asked him to give me some money
and he was like,"Well you got some money,

you gotta go find Randy
and you'll get your money."

I got with Randy on Jamaica Avenue,

and then we went to the barber shop,
to get my hair cut,

and he left took my bags back
to the studio.

[Dukes] To get up to Jay's Studio,
you get buzzed through the front door,

you go up a long staircase,

then down a long hallway.

When you walk in the door of the studio
to your left is a reception area,

straight ahead is a lounge area
and behind it is the control room.

Inside of the control room,
you have Randy Allen,

Mike B, and you had an aspiring,
female recording artist at the time.

Mike B was a friend of Hollis,
you know what I mean?

Everybody knew him. Jokester.

Cool dude.

Mike B was a rapper

and I believe he was managed
by Randy and Jay.

And he was a friend.

[Dukes] In this main room you had a couch.

There was a TV.

And you had Jam Master Jay
and Tony Rincon,

who were seated playing video games.

Jay was closer to the door
and reportedly had a gun close to him.

Tony was sitting next to him
farther from the door.

[Seabrook] Tony Rincon was a dude
in the neighborhood,

not from Hollis,
he was from Flushing, Queens.

He was a car sitter.

So when Jay would go into Manhattan,
he would snatch him up,

so he could sit in the car while Jay
ran upstairs and see his lawyer.

So he could double park, without parking.

That's what Tony was.

Wasn't a gangster, wasn't a fighter,
none of that.

So it couldn't have been a worse person
in that studio than him because,

he is a coward, at the end of the day.

[Dukes] The reception desk is usually
where Lydia High sat.

She was the office manager.

Randy Allen is her brother,

her and Randy were really good friends
with Jay, like from childhood.

[Seabrook] Lydia was a good girl.
Nice girl, pleasant attitude.

No-- Very quiet, introverted.

[ringing]

[Santagelo] That night, they were talkin'
about the itinerary

for the next couple of days,

in regards to, what he was doing,
his DJ spots.

Lydia was right across from him.

And some guy came right in, dark clothing.

She said she didn't see
a good look at him, he had the...

hood up, you know.

There was a brief conversation,

and it was a little heated.

She tried to run out

and there was a second individual
at the doorway,

with a gun,
who told her to get on the floor.

[Bonita] Tony said when they walked in,

his phone rang, he reached down
to pick up his phone

that supposedly fell between the couch.

My mother, just randomly,
she just happened to call me at that time

and that's exactly
when everything happens.

I just hear Jay say,

Oh f--

I heard the shot
and that's when I got hit in my leg.

[Randy] Like, you hear one shot
that you don't know what it is.

And then you hear a shot and you go,
"oh that was a shot."

And then you hear screaming,

and then you just hear
a bunch of stomping.

I'm in the room with two people.

I'm in there with Mike B and the girl
and they hear the shot

and they're jumpin' all over everything

and I'm trying to get to the door...

because Lydia and Jay is there.

So I'm running out,

and once I get the door open,
I see, you know, I see Jay layin' there,

I see my sister laid out, like,
on the floor,

scared to pick her head up 'cause
she don't know who's still in the room.

[Rodney] I walk out of the barbershop,

and I'm standing on the corner,

and Mike B runs to me
and he starts telling me

that they shootin' in the studio.

Then when I got up in there,

I looked this way, um,

Lydia was on the floor over there,

screamin', like, somewhere in this area.

Either on this side of that medium
or on this side.

She was over here.

Jay was kind of like,

like, right here.

His head was up there
and his feet was down here.

I kicked Jay, tryna to wake him up.

And then I turned around and I left

and by the time I got down the stairs
of the studio...

the police, like the precinct,
was coming in

and they like rush me back all the way up
to the top of the stairs

and back in front of the studio.

One witness was taken to the hospital.
Everybody else was brought back here.

The male shooter? Not known to anybody.

When I heard about the crime,
the first thing I told...

my people to look into was,
"what about the cameras?"

When I became the studio manager,

I had security cameras installed
after speaking with Randy and Jay.

There was one when you come up to
the main door downstairs,

you buzz the door.

There's one camera here,
that looks at you from the side.

And so you can see who it is.

So we can record people
that got buzzed in.

And what it would do, is re-record.

And re-record,
every 24 hours it would re-record.

And we would go in there
and we would check it,

from time to time to make sure it was
working properly and everything.

That was my first instinct,
was to call my people and like...

um, tell 'em to look at the cameras.

[Santagelo] When we went to go
and take that tape and view it,

it was an old tape.

It showed... it looked like springtime.

Because that day was a miserable,

cloudy, cold day.

You know, the date was off,
everything was off.

He didn't have the right times
or dates on there.

Somebody took the tape out so...

now we don't know who rung the bell.

But somebody knows somethin'
cuz they buzzed them up.

[Dukes] Lydia High was the office manager
at Jay's studio.

An anonymous cop said that,
"She buzzed in the killers."

She wouldn't have buzzed up
someone she didn't know,

so, it's likely that Jay's killers were
people that Jay knew.

[James] At the time I was like,
"Nobody says nothing?"

It's either one of two things:

either they scared
or they hiding something.

One of two things,
that's all it could be.

Here's the irony of it all,
Jason put his life on the line,

for others, right?

In the end,

it's not being reciprocated
because ain't nobody telling the truth.

That's messed up.

But that's typical,
of people in that environment,

where I came from.

The witnesses was scared.

[Dukes]
Immediately following Jay's murder,

one of the theories that hit the streets,
was that, Jay had got caught up in a beef,

between a prominent New York City,
drug lord and Jay's former protege,

50 Cent.

There was a theory that Jay's murder,
was due to people,

who was really out to get 50 Cent.

50's earlier days
carry a lot of controversial baggage.

As a child hustler, he would run
throughout the streets,

of Southside, Queens,
that was run by a notorious,

drug kingpin,
Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff,

and Preme's second-in-command
Gerald "Prince" Miller.

A notorious crack, king-pin,
with ties to the music industry,

now faces the death penalty.

Jurors have convicted,
Kenneth 'Supreme" McGriff,

for murder and drug dealing charges.

Rap is very competitive.

And you know, at that time,
Murder Inc Records

that also hails from outta Queens,

was affiliated with Supreme.

So after enjoying much success,

50 released a very controversial record,

that made references to a number
of prominent street figures,

including Supreme and Prince.

♪ When you hear talk of the Southside
You hear talk of the team ♪

♪ See niggas feared Prince
And respected 'Preme ♪

♪ For all you slow motherfuckers
I'ma break it down iller ♪

♪ See 'Preme was the business man
And Prince was the killer ♪

♪ Remember? ♪

[Duke] After this song came out,

a couple prominent figures,
saw him as snitching,

by mentioning their name.

And then in addition,
50 was picking on Ja Rule.

And Supreme he was like a henchman,

for Murder Inc.

And they were trying
to tell 50 to relax, calm down,

leave him alone, and he didn't.

That's why what happened to 50,
happened to him.

I walked over here,
to sit in the actual vehicle,

then my friend was waitin' for me
and a car pulled up,

on the side of us,

a guy got outta the passenger seat
of that car and came around behind it,

and shot through the actual car.

[Dukes]
The theory is that Supreme went after 50,

for Murder Inc.
and in the process could have potentially,

went after Jay because he was the one
who put him on the path to stardom.

[Mcgriff]
A lot of crazy rumors and ghetto gossip,

about ridiculous theories.

They love a juicy story,
they just ran with it.

But nobody ever
contacted me about it or...

asked if I wanted an opportunity,

to address the rumors.

There was word that, you know,
you put 50 Cent on a blacklist.

[Mcgriff]
I never knew he was signed to Jay.

I never knew he was signed to Jay.

I mean,
I knew Jay's been messin' wit' him,

or he was his prodigy,
but I didn't know nothin' about it,

as far as his business ends,
or if he was signed to him or...

or anything like that.

Jay was cool.

I never had a beef wit' him.
Like, everythin' I know about Jay,

is just like, just knowin'...
hearin' about him in the hood,

you know what I'm sayin'?
And...

Everything I knew about Jay was,
Jay was a cool dude.

And that's as far as it went, you know?

When I would see him,
"what's up? what's up?"

And that was it. Jay was a cool dude.

[Seabrook speaking]

I knew Supreme very well. I'm from Queens
and I hustled and I worked out there.

He saw me.
And I'm a tell you somthin'...

Supreme had a lot of love
and respect for Jay.

You know?

But their paths don't cross each other.

And if they did they would just, you know,
hit each other and keep it pushin'.

So that's again, they drawin' for straws.

With regards to the Supreme theory,

that was put to rest because the police
just didn't have any leads.

A new theory emerged involving
one-time friend Curtis Scoon,

that him and Jay had got into a beef
over a drug deal gone bad.

That's crazy.

Can you imagine that? Like, that's nuts.

Jay didn't sell drugs.

It's like, he was wit' me. I would have
seen that for a million percent sure.

Like, nah never.

[Trini]
There was a lot of rumors out there

that Jam Master Jay was a drug dealer.

That's not true.

Jay had kids, he had sons,

he had a wife, he had a mother,
he had people that...

that respected him and looked up to him.

[Jones] Why would he deal drugs?

He was a DJ.

[Bonita] He wasn't no drug dealer.

You know, he might have sold some weed
to somebody but that's as far as it going.

My initial reaction to the reports
of Jay's potential involvement,

within drug activity was shock,

and it was disbelief.

Over all, I knew
that this would overshadow,

his greatness and his legacy.

But as we attempted to dig
a little bit deeper into the theory,

involving Curtis Scoon,

there was a personal side
of Jay's life that begin to reveal itself.

It's hard to maintain being on top.

You just gotta come with hit, after hit,
after hit,

but it was just hard to maintain that.

And he started feelin' the impact.

Of not having money on his friends,
and his family,

and his mother, and his sister,
and his brother.

Of people that relied on him.

And so he felt this need
to keep maintainin',

and maintainin', and maintainin',

but Jason went into debt, like people do.

He told me that he was in trouble
with the government.

Uncle Sam wanted their money,
you know, taxes.

They knocking on your door.

They talkin' bout taking your stuff,
your belongings,

maybe sendin' you to jail.

So, it's hard to think.

One of da best MCs...

[Seabrook] His intention was just,
to keep going financially.

...Sun will shine. For real.

Hear me, feel me.

Legend has spoken.

[Seabrook] There was no other alternative
after music,

he had to revert back to what I know.

You know?

So, he reached out to me
and some other people

because he knew
how we were livin'.

He reached out to the people
that was doin' things,

that maybe
he could double up his money,

or maybe he can, you know,
make some more money,

some extra coin so that he can
take care of the government

and take care of his people.

No matter what,
Jay's friends was Jay's friends.

They went to jail,
they were sellin' drugs, whatever.

When they came home,
they was tryna do the same thing.

Y'all don't know no different.

So if I've lost everything, then,

"Yo homie, wussup? Boom, boom, boom.
Gimme ten, lemme get my ten,

get this ten and flip it"...

Get your ten back.

Plus give you another ten,
just for givin' it to me.

You know, so...

That's how Jay was with his peoples.

So Jason invested, you know,

and tried to double his money
and triple his money,

like we would all do,
if we had that opportunity.

Jason, Curtis Scoon and myself
went to California,

with the intention of buying coke,
buying drugs,

but it didn't work out like that.

'Cause when Jay got to LA,

it was a plan B because the dude
he went to see wasn't there.

Plan B was buying it
from someone else.

Plan B never works.

Never! Okay?

Plan B never works,
in these kinds of businesses.

When Jason went to that somebody else,
he got set up for $30,000.

So we were out of $30,000.

The theory was,

as a result of us gettin', you know,
having that incident in California.

That Scoon got upset.
He felt like Jay owed him some money.

[James] I remember after Jay's murder.

Randy looked right at me,

and he said "Shake, the person that killed
your best friend and mine,

was Curtis Scoon.

But why would he kill Jay though?

Like, you know, like Jay's an earner so,

if you owe somebody five dollars,

you... I mean and a person got a job,

and especially his job,

he can pay you five dollars.
So why would you kill...

It don't make sense.

[Seabrook]
Curtis Scoon's a good friend of mine,

we grew up together, in Hollis.

Curtis Scoon was a businessman.

He was articulate. He was an entrepreneur.

So most of his life
he just had businesses, small businesses,

he's grown businesses, made money,
real estate, things like that like.

Like anybody else.
I spoke to Curtis a few times,

about the fact
that he was a suspect in Jay's murder,

and he felt disrespected.

[Bonita] All of Jason's friends,
are friends with me.

At the funeral, Curtis asked me for a hug

and I was like...

I just hesitated,
even though that I knew him.

But your name is out there,

having something
to do with my brother's death.

He said, "But you know what 'Nita?

you probably
already hugged the killer."

What I'ma say to that?
'Cause I probably did.

If you ever saw Curtis Scoon,
he's a big man.

He's very big, ve...

Tall guy.

The description of the perpetrator's
not that big.

His photo was shown to the witnesses,

from the insurance company
and from the studio,

and nobody would ID him.

It didn't work out for us
but we spent a lot of man hours,

tryna investigate,
that part of the dispute.

[Dukes] Curtis Scoon eventually discussed
being named,

as a suspect in the murder
of Jam Master Jay.

He said that, and I quote,

At that point, I'm thinking,
if Scoon is out as a suspect

but Randy is tryna finger Scoon,

then Randy's behavior's
gotta be suspicious.

If he has somethin' to do with the murder,
what the hell was his motivation?

We uncovered a few possibilities.

Randy and Jay had some type of insurance,

that they shared amongst each other,

you know, and in the wake of
one of their deaths,

like, the other one had
some type of rights, to that insurance.

An anonymous cop, involved in the case,
corroborated that claim.

When asked what he had heard
about this supposed insurance policy,

he said, and I quote,

And when asked point-blank
if there was an insurance policy,

he said yes.

But that wasn't the only theory,
involving Randy Allen.

[James] Jay started kind of talking about
the money situation with him and Randy,

that he's like,
"Yo, Randy's fucking stealing from me."

I said, "Randy? Wait," I said,
"stealin' what?"

He said, "He stealin' money from me,"

he said, "he's fucking stealing
money from me,"

he said, "he's been robbing me blind."

That's weird for somebody to say
I was stealing from Jay.

That you were siphoning money out of Jay.

Never.

I can't imagine that, they were like this.

To be involved with somebody like Jay...

'Cause that's my homie
I gotta keep it real--

-We know that.
- ...is very, very...

hard.

[people murmur]

Randy Allen was the best man
at his wedding, you know,

he was really close with his kids.

Randy and Jay were workin' on
other projects to go to the next level.

He was working with Shakim
and Queen Latifah on some projects.

He orchestrated the Rusty Waters thing,
where they got the deal through Virgin.

They just got a million dollars
from Virgin records,

why would they steal from each other?

I don't necessarily believe that Randy
was takin' money outta Jay's pocket.

I mean,
they were running a business together.

-Money was never a thing--
-So much so, that you would be willing--

We was never about to... you know,

stealing any... We never had that problem.

So much so, that you would be willing
to allow

the family to look into
whatever they need to?

Go ahead, you can look into everything.

From day one, I said, Randy ain't do it.

Randy ain't no killer.

Him and Jay was close. Jay liked him.

Jay loved him, actually,
he was his man, so...

They had a good relationship.

Put aside the business relationship,
put aside everything else.

But he was he was Jay's son's godfather.

One thing I can say about Randy,
he loved Jay.

He loved Jay like a brother.

If you realize this story and you've been
investigating for a long time...

It's a lot of mystery,

hypothetical,

speculation,

nothing concrete.

'Cause I wanna find out who did it.

I don't wanna keep speculatin'

and just thinking, you know,
I wanna know who actually did it.

I don't believe that it's that hard,

to really solve this case.

You know, it is a number of really
compelling elements.

But you know, these are elements that,

you know, the police are responsible for.

[Trini] We're in a commercial district.

There's gotta be cameras
all over Jamaica Avenue.

You know, that's what they do.
Especially in the commercial areas.

89th Avenue, Jamaica Avenue.

The precinct is right here,
the parking lot.

You got Jamaica bus terminal.

If this was a bank robbery
or something like that.

They'd zero in on a certain radius.
And they'd zero in on license plates

and then that's how they'd be able
to pull up suspects.

I've never heard of anyone
looking into that.

I've never heard of that.

You know, when you think about it,
yes, there were a number of individuals,

who was in the vicinity
of where this crime transpired,

but again, they lost the trust,

you know, of key people who was involved.

[Parker] They sort of alienated
the witnesses by bringin' them in cuffs,

takin' 'em into the precints,
berating them, yellin' at them.

They didn't appreciate that

and they were kinda scared,
really fearful.

There were a lot of tangibles that
had to be worked out these cases,

that should've been.
The DA's office was called into it.

They didn't provide the proper things,

that they said they were going to do.

Witness protection was one of them.

They said that they were going to go out
and relocate some people.

They were
gonna do a lot of different things,

that they reneged on.

And that kind of,
deterred a lot of the witnesses,

from coming forward,
even getting involved in the case.

[Dukes]
Two sources close to the case confirm

that Lydia High was denied
witness protection.

You know, I saw,

a reward put up by the NYPD was,

you know, was under $10,000. I was like,
"This is what this man is worth.?"

You know, so it's like perception
means a lot, you know, and...

it's like, if you're not gonna do it
any justice,

in that manner, like,
just don't even attempt at all, you know?

Just do your job, but don't insult
the man's legacy like that.

And I know that those are specific things
that really bothered people,

in this specific case of Jay,

but that applies to everyone.

There's definitely a perception within
the urban community,

that we have a lack
of support that we see from, you know,

the courts, the judicial system,
you know, and law enforcement.

[Hurricane] Had Jam Master Jay been
a police officer up there,

they woulda fuckin' arrested 20 people,

until somebody told them,
who the hell did it.

There's no way you
woulda got away with that.

You know what I mean? Think about it.
If he had been a police officer,

and somebody came up there
and did that murder,

they woulda turned Queens upside down,

until they actually found the people,
that did the homicide.

And KRS-One has a song called,

"If You Wanna Get Away With Murder,
Kill a Rapper."

The killing of somebody else
might be solved,

real quick or you know,
throughout the course of time,

but rappers and, and you know...

DJ's and stuff like that,

they never get solved.
Nobody wants to tell.

♪ If ya wanna get away with murder
Kill a Rapper ♪

♪ If ya wanna get away with murder
Kill a Rapper ♪

[Dukes] As the months dragged into years
and Jay's killer remained on the loose,

everyone's hopes began to fade
that we would ever get to the bottom

of what happened on that terrible night.

All the police would say is,
"The investigation is ongoing."

For five years all we saw
were dead ends piling up.

Motives, aah...

I don't have any one motive that--

[Dukes] Over the course of the years
when the case had looked

like it was starting to become
just another cold case,

Randy just took another route.

When he started revealing information,
in hopes that it could,

put some pressure,
possibly to apply to the police

and eventually lead to an arrest.

In 2007, he revealed what Lydia
had told the cops,

the night of the murder.

Ronald Washington,

was a guy that she looked face-to-face,
in his eyes...

-Right.
-So...

That alone to me...

The cops should have reacted.

[Hurricane] Tinard was the kind of person
that always stayed in jail.

I mean, his whole life. [chuckles]

Tinard wasn't known as a drug dealer.
He's just known as a foul person.

That would fucking rob you
or anybody else,

like, that's just how he was known.

[Dukes] Ronald Tinard Washington
knew Jay since they were kids

and in the weeks
leading up to Jay's murder

had regular access to the studio.

So could Tinard have a chance
to tamper with the security system.

Let's go back to that night.

[Bonita] The night that Jason got killed,

that day...

Tinard went to see Jason in the studio.

[Dukes] While at the studio,
Tinard talked to Jay and said,

"Jay sent him to go get bullets."
But did he?

Or was he placing himself at the scene,

in case someone had seen him
around the studio?

Following Jay's murder,

according to the police,
Tinard was a person of interest.

[Seabrook] When I was in jail,

NYPD came to Arizona Prison and told me...

Tinard is one of the suspects,
Ronald Washington.

They didn't have any real facts,

but they said,
that they kinda lookin' at him.

[Dukes] Although a number of signs
pointed to Tinard's involvement

in Jay's killing,

immediately following Jay's death,

he was never arrested
in the murder of Jam Master Jay.

With all due respect to the investigation,

not arresting Ronald Tinard Washington,
was just another leading example,

that caused a breakdown of trust,

between the police
and the urban community.

Specifically within Hollis.

Street Justice had taken on
a life of its own,

and Tinard's name specifically,
had been ringing bells.

Somebody felt they needed to take justice
into their own hands.

[Hurricane] Comin' from the hood,
you know the person that did it...

You ain't got a lot of choices.

If you don't kill this mother fucker...

or you gonna testify
and say that's who killed him.

You only got A and B.

Ain't no C where you just let
that mother fucker just walk away.

And just whistle down the fucking street.

[Dukes] Following Jay's murder,

there were reports
that Tinard had been shot at,

and he made his way out of town.

And the police, basically,

squandered their opportunity
to close in on him.

A few weeks after Tinard fled,
police arrested him.

Following Jay's death,

Tinard was arrested on a number
of robbery charges that took place,

stretching from,

Hollis all the way to Long Island.

Er... He was brought up
on federal charges,

he was convicted of those charges.

[murmur]

[Dukes]
And then he sat in jail for five years,

until he was eventually sentenced.

At the time, we in the community
didn't know what the police knew,

but then in 2007,

when he was finally sentenced
for those other crimes,

the prosecution in an attempt
to beef up the sentence,

wrote a letter to the judge
that outlined Tinard's criminal past.

There was references made
to the Jam Master Jay murder

Tinard had been confiding
in a female friend,

about his involvement
in the murder of Jam Master Jay.

Not as the trigger man,
but that he was present at the scene.

So if he was there,
he's a part of the murder.

Right, so then there ain't no mystery.
We got one suspect, booked.

[Dukes] The judge dismissed the letter

but still sentenced Tinard to 17 years,
under federal charges.

Tinard himself did an interview

and gave his account
of what happened on that night.

According to Tinard,

he was on his way back to the studio,

when he heard the shots.

He then saw a friend leaving,
from the neighborhood,

Lil D and his father Big D,
leaving the studio.

Lil D is an aspiring rapper
and aspiring artist.

Very respected, you know, in the streets.

I was kinda always a musical nigga, like,

you know my pops used to run DEF JAM,

back in the days with him, you know?

So, I was always around it.

The, Run-DMC's...

[Dukes]
Big D played a pretty important role,

in Run-DMC's career,
in the earlier stages.

So he knew Jay, he knew Run, he knew D.

Later on the night of the murder,

Tinard said that Little D told him,
quote, unquote,

"My pops wasn't supposed to shoot Jay."

[Seabrook] Big D & Jay,
were like, cousins.

He lived right across the street from Jay.

Their whole life. They was always friends.

Big D and Jay got love for each other.
That's like family.

I'm telling you, Big D & Jay,
are like family.

They was cool with Jay.
Like, Big D was cool with Jay.

Like, he used to work for Def Jam, like,

I just don't know man...
That right there is ridiculous.

[Duke] Tinard gave an interview
where he said,

that three months before Jay's murder,

him and Jay were involved
in a drug deal gone wrong.

Tinard alleges that Big D
was involved in the deal as well.

Jay somehow botched the deal

and they both owed a drug dealer,
from the Midwest,

named Uncle, $180,000.

In a interview,
Big D talks about Tinard's claim.

When asked why Tinard placed him
at the scene of the crime

he said, and I quote,

[Parker] Ronald Tinard had already said
in the paper that,

he wasn't involved
and he implicated two other people.

I believe it's one of them.
Either Lil D or Big D.

[Big D] He's a fat liar.

And because he a cop
he think he can't get dealt with.

He's wrong.

If he was not retired, I'd get him fired.

And if he keep talkin',

the way he talkin',

I'm gonna get him wired.

Break his jaw,

couple places.

He have to eat out of a straw
for next six, eight, nine months.

If he make it.

So he need to know what he talkin' about,
he need to shut up, really,

'cause if he don't...

[coughs] Know what I'm sayin?

Things can happen.

[Dukes]
It's possible that both Big D and Lil D

were involved
in some sort of beef with Jay.

But according to witnesses,

only two men entered the studio

and Lydia told police that the one
who held the gun to her head,

was Ronald Tinard Washington.

So that leaves the question...

who was the triggerman?

Randy Allen dropped another bombshell.

That his sister Lydia High
had revealed to the police,

that the gunman in Jay's murder,
had a tattoo on his neck.

[reporter] Who killed Jam Master Jay?

Who shot the final bullet
that went into Jam Master Jay's skull?

If you got to place a bet. Big D or--

If I had to place a bet,
I would say Lil D.

♪ I'm one of da best
Soon to be compared with some of da rest ♪

♪ On the beat
Like dat thing in ya chest ♪

♪ If it stops I stop
Smoother than a Gucci shoe hi-top ♪

[Trini] Derick Parker, I don't know
where he gets his information from...

Um, he is a former NYPD.

Maybe he knows somethin' I don't know.
I don't know.

When I heard Derrick Parker's revelation

on who he felt the assailants were
in this crime...

You know, my immediate reaction was,

how'd you come to that conclusion?

Lil D and Tinard, but that's speculation.
That's hearsay, that's word of mouth.

That's nothing.

It's just, in the wind.

A conviction cannot be based on hearsay.

If it was a Little D or a little Kevin
or a little whatever.

I don't know exactly
if it was that person yet.

But if the fingers are pointin'
at that person, then,

I think it's something
worth investigating.

And if that's what's going on,
then I'm quite sure that,

the proper authorities,
will investigate it.

Still, the case is still open.

I mean every year, we try to work on it.

We get tips and we work on it.

Um...

so...

It's been really, really, really hard,
you know, 15 years.

And I think the reason,
that is still has such a...

a profound effect on me is
because of the fact that it's not solved.

It's 15 years! They have nobody.

I think if the people in Hollis,
trusted the cops more,

this would have been solved.

15 years already went by.

I'm waiting for that day.

[Dukes] You're not supposed to be able
to commit a crime

and nobody be held accountable for it.

Biggie Smalls was killed

and he was being followed
by federal agents, for weeks.

It's hard to understand that.

Similarly with Tupac.

There's a number of high-profile,
unsolved murders,

you know, from Mac Dre, to big L,

to even, Stack Bundles.

This is an epidemic
and we've seen this story,

a lot of different times.

The statistics and the data
speaks for itself.

[Mcdaniels]
That's the shame in all this...

The fact that it's still happening!

It's happenin' everyday
to young individuals,

who still have their life
ahead of 'em.

♪ Clap ya hands everybody
Everybody clap ya hands ♪

♪ To the people in the back... ♪

[Dukes] When you have a figure like,

Jam Master Jay,

this is a person,
who has millions of fans.

He's looked at as the guy who made it out.
He gives a sense of hope,

and...

we like to take care of our people,

you know, and we expect other people
to take care of our people.

So right now we feel like,
our peoples aren't being taken care of.

[Connie]
He would share, anything that he had.

Nothing was too...

good for him, that he couldn't give it to
somebody else.

That's the way I brought him up,
you know?

It was...

Love.

It was love.

That's all that I can say about it.
It was love. Yeah.

[sombre piano chords]