Hip-Hop History Month,#11 part 2

General Jeff started off his legacy with Uncle Jamm's Army and The LA Posse with the likes of Egyptian Lover, Ice-T, DJ Pooh, Dj Kittkatt, DJ BattleCat, and DJ Bobcat. Although, I am guilty of skipping the LA Posse in my previous posts, I should remind you that that is where LL Cool J went to do his second album. It all came about because LL was tired of waiting for Rick Ruben to wrap up Krush Groove, and he wanted his album done "now". After seeing what the LA Posse, and specifically Bobcat could do, LL was blown away. General Jeff was disappointed he didn't get the call to be apart of it, but he manned up and kept it moving.

But let's go back a little further. In 1984, Jeff became a member of Bobby Jimmy & The Critters. Now, if you have been following my posts, you may remember my mentioning Russ Parr. He was a morning DJ at 1580 KDAY, who did a ton of skits and characters. One of which, was a character Eddie Murphy stole named "Bobby Jimmy". Bobby Jimmy was an adult "Buckwheat" and he did parodies of songs like Weird Al....but for hip-hop.

The first song General Jeff was part of was "Big Butt" which was a parody of Whodini's "Big Mouth". Being the alpha male type of cat that Jeff was, he was REALLY hesitant about doing that song. "Wait. Are we saying SHE got a big butt, or WE have big butts? Because, I ain't trying to say all that". Russ told him he didn't want to piss women off, considering the last song was "We Like Ugly Women", he wanted to veer away from that.

That may have been the first thing he was involved with, but he became an unofficial member of the group....by accident. There was one thing about Jeff; he was ALWAYS in the right place at the right time.

The first time Bobby Jimmy was going to perform live, he was going to perform the song "We Like Ugly Women", (produced by Egyptian Lover). The group was called Bobby Jimmy Critters", but, one of the "Critters" was really late for the performance. In panic mode, Russ asked Jeff if he would fill in. Jeff, had no problem with it, and they began working on dance steps. Right before they were going on, the other guy showed up. A little deflated, Jeff fell back, only for Russ to say, "well, you can STILL go up and be the DJ". All he had to do was start the song, and look hype behind the turn tables.

Time went on after a few shows, NWA alum Arabian Prince joined The Critters. One of the front guys wanted to fall back and be the DJ. It was perfect, because General Jeff wanted to be up front; so they switched places.

When they released Big Butt, they went to New York. New Yorkers assumed that Bobby Jimmy and The Critters were New Yorkers, as well, and was taken back when they discovered they were from California.

At the age of 19, Jeff contracted cancer; Hodgkin's Disease. They removed his spleen, and he was stuck with IVs, so he had to leave the game for awhile to get his health back. He did kinda bump heads with Russ Parr as well, though, and most of that was the mental anguish the situation was causing. Like I said, General Jeff had a VERY strong personality, and under stress, it showed even more.

He was, however, able to leave one final gem behind with Russ in 1987 called "Overlapping Waist", which he produced along side Russ Parr. It was a parody of Rodney O's "Ever Lasting Bass". So let's take it back to how Jeff met Rodney.

General Jeff had never released a solo project. When he finally worked up the desire to, he gave a 4 song demo to Egyptian Lover and asked his opinion. 30 minutes later, Egypt called him back and asked him if he played keyboard. "Yeah, but I'm no Beethoven". Egypt told him he just needed regular cords like he plays in his songs. Of course Jeff could handle that. Egypt explained that he needed another keyboard player on the road. So Jeff had to decide to either pursue his personal career, or go on the road with someone already established and doing their thing? He choose the road. It was at this time, he met the other keyboard player....Rodney O. They got to talking and discovered that they were the only two youngsters in the group, so a camaraderie was formed.

Rodney later had completed the instrumental of "Ever Lasting Bass" and asked Jeff for his opinion before letting Egypt check out the finished product. Jeff FLIPPED!! Rodney told him that he already arranged to have Joe scratch on it.

Signed to Egyptian Lover's label, Rodney O and Joe Cooley found themselves as the opening act. Their show was slow and lackluster, so Rodney asked Jeff if he could come out first and hype the crowd up. He did. He brought an energy that electrified not only the crowd, but Rodney and Joe as well. The combination went so well, Jeff was eventually just brought into the fold as well. He was pulling doubled duty for awhile, until Rodney O and Joe Cooley got so big, General Jeff had to choose, and he choose Rodney O & Joe Cooley. For the record, it should be noted, Rodney wanted to place his name in the group name, but Jeff thought it would "sound like a law firm", so he declined. Citing people know the names of members of groups they like even if their name isn't in the group name....which is true. They enjoyed the ride until they broke up. The remained friends, however.

In 1995 Jeff plugged with DJ Quik during his third album Safe And Sound. He rolled with him until about 2001. He was behind the scene on MANY westcoast projects, from Cube, to Pac, to Snoop records, and so on and so on. He even has the plaques to prove it. He however, walked away from all that, for a true calling. To give back and save lives in his community and Skid Row.

In 2006, he moved to Skid Row and became a neighborhood activist, advocating for better city policies towards unhoused people. He served on the CA Office of Health Equity Advisory Committee where he spoke on behalf of Skid Row residents and in 2017 he led a campaign to create an official Skid Row Neighborhood Council, which was ultimately defeated by downtown voters.

He also created the popular 3 on 3 basketball league in Gladys Park. “He saw the people as a community and wanted to do things and give people positive alternatives in the community,” recalled longtime friend and fellow organizer Pastor Cue of The Row Church.

Even as upscale development closed in from all sides, Jeff helped change the narrative on skid row, which he championed as one of the city’s last majority-Black neighborhoods, made up of renters, recovery workers and homeless people who deserved their own political voice. He was continuing to fight for a separate neighborhood council for the 50-block downtown district when he fell ill.

On October 23rd, Hip Hop lost a pioneer and activist. General Jeff was as a friend to many, and a thorn to others. But to his friends and loved ones, he was caring, loving, and showed more empathy through his last few years of work than many have shown in an entire life time. We will miss you Jeff, but you will NEVER be forgotten. We love you, brutha.