WHAT’S UP WITH … DJ BROTHER JAMAR

by Dirty South Joe

“DJ Brother Jamar” Ferrell, 37, is somewhat of an anomaly on the Philly radio dial. For the past six years he’s been the DJ
host of Tiffany Bacon’s Inner City show, showcasing the soulful, more organic side of Philly’s music scene every Sunday night on Power 99.

“Tiffany Bacon created the show in 1998,” Jamar recalls. “King Britt, Rich Medina and ?uestlove would come in as guests on
what was called Rhythm and Roots, where they’d spin breakbeats. They were doing their thing, but to me they weren’t spanking ’em. I threw her a CD and the
next day they hit me up. Since then it’s been on.”

The show’s non-format stands out on the Clear Channel-operated station, and Ferrell is proud to serve as a reminder of radio
days gone by.

“I play everything. I can go from Dr. Hook to a Spider-Man break. It’s a bugged-out mix. I love it. It’s Clear Channel radio,
but when I get on there you’d think I’m on a college station. At one point that neo-soul, rare-groove, B-side sound was something
the city really wanted. Back then the show was three hours long. Now it’s one hour. It’s survived, but the question is for
how long?”

Brother Jamar is also an accomplished producer who’s developing a knack for scoring TV shows and commercials. “My brother
was a writer for the show Girlfriends. I sent in a couple songs for the show and they took ’em, and I got that check.”

Since the Girlfriends gig, he’s also written tracks for Moesha, and is currently working on a reality show on VH1 called The Club. In a couple weeks he’ll drop a free download mix CD Vanilla Soul, which pays homage to blue-eyed soul cats new and old.