DJ Jazzy Jeff knows how to break up the monotony during all of this self-isolating, especially since summertime is upon us. In honor of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s 30th anniversary, he’s hosting a virtual block party.
On May 9, the all-day event, called Break the Monotony Block Party, will also raise funds for COVID-19 relief .
“It’s humbling to see how The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and our music has transcended time and continued to shape pop culture,” he told Rolling Stone. “I am blown away that 30 years later, this [show] is still on television and making a new generation of people happy.”
It’s important for Jeff to give back to those who are fighting or dealing with COVID-19 since the DJ, producer, and actor had his own personal experience with the novel coronavirus. In fact, he opened up about struggling with symptoms back in March.
“I am feeling a lot better and quarantining at home, thank goodness. It drives me crazy though, to see how many people aren’t taking this [pandemic] seriously, because I understand the severity of this, and got through it, and I don’t wish this on anyone,” he said.
DJ Jazzy Jeff said he got the idea to hold a virtual block party after doing deejay sets on Instagram Live while quarantining in his home city of Philadelphia,
“I started live-streaming from home a month ago, every Saturday on IG live and Facebook. I thought, ‘I’m going to DJ and you’re going to dance in your kitchen with your significant other and we’re going to have a good Saturday.’ But the idea came up that it would be cool to do a block party with not just me deejaying, but have a full day of some of the best deejays in the world,” he added.
Those DJs include DJ D-Nice, Just Blaze, DJ Clark Kent and others who will perform 60-minutes sets prior to DJ Jazzy Jeff’s headlining show.
“So I called up some of my friends and said, ‘Let’s make this an all-day thing,'” he recalled. “Let’s stay in the house, cook some food, make some drinks, and dance in the kitchen together.”
The block party is also the official launch event for a line of limited-edition merchandise called “Fresh Prince/Summertime” that will benefit No Kid Hungry, a non-profit that is providing nutritious meals for children dealing with food insecurity related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Y’all coming?!