Early Life

Michael Collins Ajereh, known as Don Jazzy, was born on November 26, 1982, in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. His mother is an Igbo princess from Abia State, while his father comes from the Isoko ethnic group in Delta State. He grew up in Ajegunle, Lagos, and attended Federal Government College Lagos. Don Jazzy developed an interest in music early on, learning to play bass guitar, piano, traditional, and percussion instruments by age 12. He studied business management at Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, Edo State. In 2000, he visited London for the first time, where he played drums for a local church and worked as a security guard at McDonald’s while pursuing music.

Career

In 2004, Don Jazzy co-founded Mo’ Hits Records with D’Banj. Over the next few years, he produced hit albums like No Long Thing and Rundown/Funk You Up, creating the signature producer tag, “It’s Don Jazzy Again!”. He produced D’Banj’s The Entertainer album in 2008 and Wande Coal’s Mushin 2 MoHits, regarded as one of Nigeria’s best albums.

He worked with Kanye West’s GOOD Music label from 2011 to 2013 and co-produced “Lift Off” featuring Beyoncé on the Watch The Throne album. In 2012, after parting ways with D’Banj, he launched Mavin Records, quickly signing top artists like Tiwa Savage. He released a collaborative album under Mavin Records featuring hit tracks such as “Amarachi” and “I’m a MAVIN.”

Despite some conflicts, including Wande Coal’s departure in 2013 and Reekado Banks leaving later, Don Jazzy continued to grow his label, signing new talents like Rema in 2019, Ayra Starr in 2020, and Magixx in 2021. He also clarified why he never signed Davido.

Besides music, Don Jazzy appeared in Nigerian films such as The Last 3 Digits and Introducing The Kujus sequel. In 2022, he co-launched Jazzy Burger, expanding his business ventures.

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