Jam Master Jay’s Dueling Next of Kin
As Missy Elliott, Chuck D, Lil’ Kim, Russell Simmons, Naomi Campbell, and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels toasted the Jam Master Jay Foundation for Music at a $10,000-a-table gala February 25, a behind-the-scenes battle for the legacy of the foundation’s namesake, the late Jason Mizell, raged. The Foundation for Music is headed up by Mizell’s widow, Terri Corley-Mizell, and supports inner-city schools music programs. Then there’s the Jam Master Jay Foundation for Youth, which grew out of efforts by Mizell’s mother, Connie, soon after the D.J. was murdered in his Queens studio in 2002. It offers college tuition for high-schoolers. Sources close to the family say that Corley-Mizell and Connie have barely spoken since Jay’s death. Finally, there’s the Mizell Children’s Fund, which was set up in late 2002 by hip-hop heavies like Simmons to raise cash for college for Mizell’s three kids. Sources close to the Mizell family say that several big donors withdrew contributions because of concerns over the fund’s ill-defined mission. Corley-Mizell would not confirm or deny this, but she did say that “there were some pledges made that didn’t go through.”
—Ethan Brown