By Ismael AbduSalaam
Grammy-winning producer DJ Jazzy Jeff has confirmed his participation in DJ Hero, the latest interactive music gaming experience from Activision Publishing.
The game will follow the model laid out by the wildly popular Guitar Hero series, and feature several other distinguished DJs in Grandmaster Flash, DJ Shadow, DJ AM, and DJ Z-Trip.
For the game, Jazzy Jeff will create two exclusive, eclectic DJ blends that includes mixes of Tears for Fears, Eric B. and Rakim, LL Cool J, and the Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra.
Citing that DJs have long been overlooked as legit musicians, DJ Jazzy Jeff hopes the game will expose the craft to legions of new fans.
“I am very, very excited DJ culture is finally getting its due,” Jazzy Jeff told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “To have a song in DJ Hero is a dream come true; to be a character someone can pick up the controller and select you and play is probably the biggest thing to happen to me in my career. Music is so much a part of everyone’s life, DJ Hero is going to appeal to almost everybody.”
Activision has confirmed a catalogue of over 100 individual songs, and states that the tracks are “highlighted in over 80 unique never-before-released mixes.”
In addition, gamers will be able to utilize the first ever “turntable controller” for better handling of creative skills like cross-fading, sampling, blending, and scratching.
DJ Hero will be published for the Wii, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, and Xbox 360 consoles. Its scheduled release date is October 27.