| Da Jammies | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by |
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| Developed by | Ralph Farquhar |
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| Opening theme | "Here We Come!" |
| Ending theme | "Here We Come!" (instrumental) |
| Country of origin |
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| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
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| Running time | 22 minutes (regular episodes only) |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Netflix |
| Release | August 31, 2015 |
Da Jammies is an animated musical television series that first aired on August 31, 2015, on Netflix.[1] It was created by Aulsondro "Novelist" Hamilton and William "Dolla" Chapman II. The series covers various issues that affect children with an overarching theme of "unity" and "doing it together".
Ralph Farquhar is the executive producer. It is directed by Tyree Dillihay and Ron Myrick. Featured guest stars include Darius McCrary, Alisa Reyes, Dani Nicolet, Kurtis Blow, Buddy Lewis, Emcee N.I.C.E., William "Dolla" Chapman II aka D.B.I., Tiny Lister Jr., Kel Mitchell and James Avery.[2]
Da Jammies centers around a group of friends who attend a performing arts school where they struggle to balance real-life issues with their dreams of stardom. Co-leader Dolla (William "Dolla" Chapman II) is a quick-tempered, rapping dancer who believes that Da Jammies do not practice enough. The other co-leader, Novelist (Aulsondro "Novelist" Hamilton), plays a "peacekeeping" role and always has a solution to help the crew succeed. The other members are Momo (Alisa Reyes), a poet with a bubbly personality; LaLa (Dani Nicolet), a singing diva; and Seven (Anderson Johnson Jr.), a "soulful crooner" who always tries to be helpful. Their nemesis is another group called the Battlebrats, whose leaders Mike Fresh (Kel Mitchell) and Smalls (Shane Tsurugi) constantly seek ways to outdo Da Jammies and usually fail.
In each episode, the show addresses issues that affect young people, such as homelessness, bullying, self-awareness, body image, and friendship.
| Character | Voice | Crew | Description | Attribute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolla | William "Dolla" Chapman II | Co-leader of Da Jammies | A fiery-tempered rapper/breakdancer. His musical heroes are Ludacris & Usher. | Rapper/breakdancer |
| Novelist | Aulsondro "Novelist" Hamilton | Co-leader of Da Jammies | Novelist is a high-energy talented rapper. His musical heroes are Jay-Z and Redman. | Rapper/peacekeeper |
| LaLa | Dani Nicolet | Da Jammies | LaLa is a supremely vain, talented and confident R&B singer. Her musical heroes are Rihanna, Brandy and Beyoncé. | Singing diva |
| Momo | Alisa Reyes | Da Jammies | Momo is a new-age world spoken artist. Her creative heroes are Nikki Giovanni, Nina Simone and Tracy Chapman. In Episode 3, her real name is revealed to be Vivian. | Singing poet |
| Seven | Anderson Johnson | Da Jammies | Seven is an asthmatic soul singer who is the heart of Da Jammies. His musical heroes are Freddie Jackson and Ruben Studdard. | Soulful singer |
Einny (voiced by Shane Tsurugi) - Resident Genius
Einny is not only the resident genius with an IQ of 300, but he is the king of gadgets. He chose to forego college, telling his mother and father he knows he's smart but that he wants to grow up like a normal kid. He befriended Da Jammies and started inventing things like rockets, time-traveling machines, and space ships.
Cransberry is an extremely short, money-hungry principal who exploits the students' talents for his own benefit. A former R&B singer who never made it past his first record, he knows the kids can make money, and does all he can to profit off them. This includes taking a portion of all proceeds that Da Jammies and others make while performing at the school.
Klondell is a security guard at the school and the local mall. He acts as a resident uncle to the students but sees the kids as beyond stupid with their reliance on gadgets and technology. He wants things to be as they used to be.
Mike Fresh comes from an affluent family that allows him to get whatever he wants. He wants to rap but is not good at it, and is jealous of Dolla. He does whatever he pleases. Part of his everyday routine is coming up with ways to sabotage Dolla; which includes Da Jammies.
Smalls is equally spoiled by his affluent family. He loves to rap sometimes in Japanese and English. His dad is a well-to-do music executive who doesn't know his son is amazing. Mike Fresh and Smalls are best friends who constantly endanger themselves.
Image Award winner Eileen Mack Knight[3] was in charge of casting for Da Jammies; her notable shows are The Proud Family, Just Jordan, The Bernie Mac Show, Martin, Wendy Wu and more.
| Seasons | Episodes | U.S. first air date | U.S. last air date | Network | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Da Jammies episodes (Season 1) [4] | 1.1–1.4 and 1.6 | August 31, 2015 | Netflix | ||
| Seasons | Episodes | Canada first air date | Canada last air date | Network | |
| Da Jammies episodes (Season 2) | 1.5 and 1.7-1.13 | TBA | TBA | ||
| Episode | Title | Synopsis | Characters in episode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Mall in the Family[5] | Da Jammies befriend an annoying kid (Motor City Jay) who wants to be a member of the group. He allows them to use his mall apartment to rehearse for a concert to raise money for a class trip to Washington D.C. Da Jammies' mischievous behavior in the mall gets Motor City Jay and his mom kicked out. When Motor City Jay reveals that he and his mom have relocated to an amusement park, Da Jammies realize that he's homeless. Da Jammies convince Principal Cransberry to use the money from their concert to pay for a new home for Motor City Jay and his mom. | Da Jammies, Motor City J, Principal Cransberry, LaLa's Mother & Novelist Mother | |
| 1.2 | 3:10[6] | When Novelist finds himself challenged to a fight by the school bully (Horace), he goes underground and discovers a world of kids who have been hiding for fear of bullies. The Novelist finally confronts his fears and challenges Horace to a duel which winds up as a freestyle rap battle on the M-I-C. | Da Jammies, Big Horace, Little Horace, Shamus, Mike Fresh, Smalls, Einny, Klondell, Ms. Randall the Detention Teacher | |
| 1.3 | Cello[7] | Da Jammies discover that nothing in MoMo's life is as it seems. She is wealthy and an incredible cello player. MoMo reveals that she's under pressure from her parents to perform at a benefit concert, which prevents her from rehearsing with Da Jammies. Dolla abruptly fires MoMo and holds auditions to replace her. Da Jammies ultimately decide to support MoMo, who turns her performance into a hip-hop spoken word declaration of who she really is. | Da Jammies, Einny, Covington, Helicopter Security, Irish Girl, Jamaican Girl, The Pretty Girl | |
| 1.4 | Old School[8] | Principal Cransberry announces that the Ridgecrest School of the Performing Arts is having an "Old School" competition and the winner will star in a Badidas shoe commercial. The only problem is Da Jammies have no idea what "Old School" is. The kids discover a hidden message on the Krash Groove soundtrack album that leads them to the Old School, a magical place where they are met by old-school hip-hop artists Crazy Craze, The Real Rosanne, and Kurtis Flow. Da Jammies learn from the true old school legends what the real is all about. | Da Jammies, Principal Cransberry, Mike Fresh, Smalls, Einny, Big Daddy Candy Cane, Kurtis Flow, Crazy Craze, and The Real Rosanne | |
| 1.5 | Birds Tail | Da Jammies go to the circus and Seven gets chosen to participate in a magic trick with Seymour the Magnificent, a parrot who doesn't speak. Seven discovers that he understands the parrot's squawking. Seven rescues Seymour from the circus after the parrot tells him the circus is holding him against his wishes. When Seven brings Seymour into Dolla's treehouse, Seymour quickly stirs up tension by telling lies to Seven about the other Jammies. | TBA | |
| 1.6 | Will The Real Dolla[9] | When Dolla joins the basketball team to impress Angelique, he's torn between playing in the basketball game and performing with Da Jammies. Einny bails Dolla out by creating a Dolla robot to perform with Da Jammies while he plays basketball to secure his sweetheart. Dolla is shocked when Angelique ditches the game to watch Da Jammies perform. Meanwhile, Da Jammies are thrilled to have Dolla (Dolla Robot) in the group, especially since he's been nice to them—much nicer than (the real Dolla). Dolla is infuriated to find out that not only has the Dolla Robot taken his place in the group, but Angelique also has a crush on him. | Da Jammies, Einny, Angelique, Robot Dolla | |
| 1.7 | Da Fab Five | Da Jammies go to Einny for help after they lose to the Battle Brats in a pick-up game of basketball. Einny gives them some special basketball shoes that will help them jump higher and run faster. Seven mistakenly pushes a button on the back of the shoes that sends an electrical pulse through all of Da Jammies and suddenly they discover they have superpowers. | TBA | |
| 1.8 | The Head Wizard | Da Jammies are rehearsing a school production of "The Wizard of Oz." Lala is playing the lead Dorothy and is acting like a selfish diva until Seven is accidentally dropped on her head and she's propelled into the fantasy world of "Da Cove" where she has to learn kindness and humility before she is allowed to return home. | TBA | |
| 1.9 | You're In The Game | Novelist and Dolla find themselves science fair partners. Novelist, however, fails to pull his weight because he has become hooked on the video game "Dodge It." He plays it so much that he finds himself trapped inside the game. | TBA | |
| 1.10 | No Gut, No Glory! | The school is having its first Sadie Hawkins Day Dance, where the girls chase the boy they want to take to the dance. Seven is excited because he plans to let Lala catch him. Of course, his plan doesn't work and when he overhears Lala telling Novelist she would never go out with a "big boy" he goes to Einny for help. Einny gives him a box of "No Gut" candy bars that transforms Seven into an irresistible ten. | TBA | |
| 1.11 | Love Song | Da Jammies arch-rivals, the Battle Brats, get a new lead singer who sings love songs propelling them to the most popular band at school. Da Jammies realize that they will have to write some love songs too if they expect to regain their number one status. The only problem is they don't know anything about love. Desperate, Da Jammies go to Seven's uncle, "The Love Man", to teach them how to write love songs. | TBA | |
| 1.12 | Election | Dolla, Novelist and Lark the cheerleader find themselves in a tie for school president and Seven is the only undecided vote. | TBA | |
| 1.13 | OMG | Principal Cransberry bans talking on cell phones, texting, or emailing while students are at school forcing the Jammies to come up with a new way to communicate that only kids can hear. | TBA |
Da Jammies received mixed but favorable reviews upon its debut. Forbes magazine called it "Fame" meets "Josie and The Pussycats".[10] Soul Train deemed it a "First of its kind 3D animated series that combines hip-hop music, dance and fashion".[11] The show received 3 out of 5 stars on Common Sense Media.[12]
As of 2016, Da Jammies was streaming in 14 countries on Netflix:[13] Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA.
As of 2021, Da Jammies was no longer available on Netflix.
