"Sophomore year at Irvington High School, the Wu-Tang dance was becoming popular along with the traditional pop-locking dances we would do to club music. Me and my bro Youngin, along with two other people, made a video from our flip phones of us dancing to a Jersey Club song and uploaded it on YouTube. The following week, Youngin threw a house party at his house and we needed some music. He had the speakers, I downloaded tons of music on my desktop tower PC and brought it over. From then on, everything changed for me to pursue DJing and production with Jersey Club." - DJ KIFF
"Awww man. Around my sophomore year, my cousin was a DJ at the time - he had DJ Tameil CDs and was playing them when I came over. I’d never heard this music in my life before, and when I heard “hit that ass from the back” I lost my mind. I asked my cousin could I have the CD and he told me NO. LMAO. So I went and brought a cassette tape and made a copy of his CD when he went to get us Chinese food. Fast forward a few weeks, I discovered they was playing this music at Branch Brooke Park Skating Rink - and that’s where I heard DJ Tim Dolla for the first time. The song was 'AOL Theme Song' and I was hooked. From there I chased the music from every event I knew it would be played." - DJ R3LL
"Myspace was the first platform to allow us to upload Jersey Club music. However, after its popularity died out and Facebook became the next thing, SoundCloud was the only platform to allow us to upload our remixes and post links to our social media." - DJ KIFF
"Myspace was the first. But when we discovered SoundCloud it was over. I believe Kiff & I was the first to pay for the Soundcloud plan, because it provided us with the ability to have 1000 free downloads - which ‘Cuff Yo Chick’ hit, lol. But yeah I will say SoundCloud has been and still kinda is a very important place to hear club music. If it wasn't for SoundCloud the sound wouldn’t have spread as fast as it did." - DJ R3LL
"[When 'Cuff Yo Chick' was taken down] We both took it as a lesson about how the music industry works and made some adjustments with marketing our project. We sent out emails to DJs and people of interest with download links and gave out physical CD copies to the people. When I was DJing heavy at Rutgers, The State University, I always had copies ready to give out with business cards. We did have social media, but on the ground work was still an important tool of strategy to utilize. The rest is history." - DJ KIFF
"The culture outside the Internet was unmatched. The events were so much fun. At times I wish there was more coverage like there is now, but man those times were the best because everyone was there for the music. It wasn’t about the flex or clout. It was about coming together dancing and to have a good time. It was all over the state so every weekend it was something to go to. During that time street teams was a big deal so it was kids coming from all over New Jersey coming to Newark to party to our sound." - DJ R3LL
"Cuff Yo Chick really just means to tie down with a shawty and give her love, Jersey Club style"
"Sampling is a huge factor on whether a Jersey Club tune will be a hit or miss. That’s not to say you can’t make a Club tune without samples, but it’s a lot easier to “paint the picasso” when you want to make a track that is going to smash the radio or the clubs." - DJ KIFF
"Sampling is gonna still be a very important instrument to Jersey Club. For me it’s all about how you use the samples you have. Example: a Jersey Club song at its best, you’re going to hear bed squeaks or the Ludacris “dick” sample, etc. As Kiff said, yes there will be originals without samples, but when you can use them in a way to bring out the message of the song then why not?" - DJ R3LL
"[On Jersey Club’s influence in the mainstream] Everyone is going to want to do it and that’s awesome. That means to me that we’ve been on the right path all along because that’s a part of our purpose… To spread our culture worldwide so that everyone can experience what we experience." - DJ KIFF
"I feel it’s becoming more and more undeniable. It’s at the point where you can say people have to respect the sound that we’ve been pioneering since kids. As the mainstream continues to understand and accept the music it creates more opportunities for us to make waves. For myself, I always feel ahead of the curve but it’s all for the better because its like, yoooo, I was on the right path and now I’m seeing people catch up and finally understand the music we feel passionate about. I believe and know it’s going to continue to grow and all we have to do is continue to make music we love." - DJ R3LL
"We were ahead of our time with 'Cuff Yo Chick' and it shows today in the current sound of Jersey Club… Overall, this project is my reference with people I give advice to on production that it’s important to create a story in your work. Doesn’t have to be elaborate but at least where it creates something catchy for people to attach to and want to get moving." - DJ KIFF
"Kiff said it best - we were ahead of our time. To continue to be relevant since we was 15 up to now, in our 30s, shows that we was onto something. The wild part is we transitioned from just listeners to promoters to DJs to producers to engineers etc - continuously reinventing ourselves and levelling up the sound and style has been a ride. When I look back at ‘Cuff Yo Chick’, that mixtape gave me the confidence to know I could do anything with Jersey Club and be happy sharing this with others. It’s been a journey and ride I’m truly proud of." - DJ R3LL