Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is murdered

Jam Master Jay, DJ for the pioneering hip-hop trio Run-DMC, is shot and killed in his recording studio in Queens, New York, on October 30, 2002. Jay's murder, which shocked the hip-hop community, went unsolved for nearly two decades before prosecutors tied it to a drug deal gone wrong.  

Jam Master Jay was born Jason Mizell in 1965 in Brooklyn, New York. Musically gifted, Jay played bass, drums and guitar before discovering the new art of turntables and scratching at age 13. His family moved to the middle-class neighborhood of Hollis, Queens, where Jay made friends with Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels, two teenage rappers who would become known as Run and DMC.  

Backed by Jay’s skilled scratching and a punchy 808 drum machine, Run-DMC created the signature sound of early 1980s hip-hop. The group’s first record, 1984’s self-titled “Run-DMC,” was the first hip-hop album to go gold, followed by “King of Rock” in 1985, the first hip-hop album to go platinum. Along the way, Run-DMC established their trademark style: Adidas tracksuits, gold chains and black Kangol hats.  

Run-DMC became a household name in 1986 with the release of the multiplatinum album “Raising Hell,” produced by hip-hop guru Rick Rubin. The group’s breakout hit was its collaboration with Aerosmith on “Walk This Way,” a groundbreaking fusion of rap and rock. A crossover sensation, Run-DMC was the first rap group to be featured prominently on MTV, the first to appear on “Saturday Night Live” and the first to make the cover of Rolling Stone.  

At a time when “gangsta rap” celebrated violence, Run-DMC was known for its playful lyrics and positive messages. When the group temporarily broke up in the 1990s, Jay started his own record label, Jam Master Jay Recordings, which signed young rap artists like Onyx. Despite his success, Jay never left Queens and his recording studio became a staple of the community.  

That’s why Jay’s 2002 murder was so shocking. On the night of October 30, two gunmen walked into the studio and shot Jay dead in cold blood. Friends, family and grieving community members were baffled by why anyone would kill a man as positive and beloved as Jam MasterJay.  

Jay’s murder remained unsolved until 2020, when two men, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr., were indicted for the killing. Separate from his music career, Jay had become involved in cocaine trafficking to dig himself out of debt. In August 2002, he bought 10 kilos (22 pounds) of cocaine and hired Washington and Jordan to distribute it in Maryland. After a dispute between Washington and another co-conspirator in Baltimore, Jay cut Washington and Jordan out of the Maryland deal, which was worth nearly $200,000. Prosecutors said the two men then conspired to kill Jay.

A third man, Jay Bryant, also pleaded guilty to a murder charge for opening a locked fire escape door to let in the killers.   

Run-DMC was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.