Nearly 18 years ago, Run-DMC DJ and hip-hop pioneer Jam Master Jay was shot to death by unknown assailants at a recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. The murder became the subject of the 2018 Netflix documentary ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay?, interviewing those who knew Jay and revealing just how convoluted and mysterious the case really was. Today, though, it may have been de-mystified by the arrest of two men in connection with the murder, according to The New York Times
The Times reports that federal prosecutors plan to announce their indictments of Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan, Jr. for murder while engaged in drug trafficking. Washington is currently serving a federal sentence for robbery. Jordan was apprehended on Sunday. Authorities have long suspected Jay’s murder was connected to a financial dispute, according to Rolling Stone. Washington was originally named as a suspect in 2007, according to Billboard, which reported he denied any connection to Jam Master Jay.
Jam Master Jay was one of the three founding members of Run-DMC, one of the most influential acts in hip-hop’s 1980s boom in popularity. Their song “My Adidas” helped prove hip-hop’s worth as a marketing tool, while “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith bridged the gap between the emerging style and the predominant rock sound. They were the first hip-hop act to appear on American Bandstand and the cover of Rolling Stone, and they were the first to be nominated for a Grammy.