DJ Jamad
Kickin' Afromentals
DJ Jamad may roll with the Aphilliates, but he couldn't be more different from that clique.
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Led by DJ Drama, the Aphilliates are famous in music circles for exporting Southern gangsta rap to the world via their Gangsta Grillz series. Meanwhile, DJ Jamad promotes next-level hip-hop and soul through his long-running mixtape series, Afromentals, which can be purchased at his website, www.djjamad.com. In conversation, he openly disdains the commercial rap scene, "the ho's, pimps and thugs."
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"It's oversaturated with ignorance and nonsense," Jamad says during lunch at Apres Diem. "That type of music and image that's out on mainstream radio is all about that. It's about the image. It's not about the talent. I'm not really about that."
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Despite a markedly different style, there's no tension between Jamad and the rest of his crew, whom he praises for breaking underground tracks not normally heard on the radio. "They're famous for what they spin now, but everybody comes from the same cloth," he says, calling the Aphilliates a "family situation."
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He's a rarity among Atlanta DJs as well, with the possible exception of DJ Kemit and Salah Ananse. (The trio spins together Sunday nights at Sugarhill.) He not only spins old-school hip-hop and selected radio hits, but criminally underexposed indie artists and rare house music tracks. He propagates a sound that is both traditionally soulful and aesthetically adventurous.
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"I might throw Heart's 'Barracuda' on there, or Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir,'" he says. "I translate the vibe. The experience of Afromentals is what it's about."
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His latest Afromentals mix, Afromatic, comes out this month. He also hosts "Afromentals" on Sirius satellite radio every Sunday at 8 p.m. Added together, his projects may not be as high-profile as the Aphilliates' best-known members. But Jamad feels he has to stay true to himself.
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"All of us – most of the DJs in my age group – came from the golden era of hip-hop," Jamad says. "It's just that I stuck with it, because it's a reflection of who I am and what I stand for."