DJ Jazzy Jeff

As long as it makes people dance, DJ Jazzy Jeff will play anything. “I wanna take people on a kind of musical journey [where] you never really know where you’re going,” he said ahead of October’s Amsterdam Dance Event. “It’s fun that way!”

He might have been born and raised in west Philadelphia, but in the 20 years since the Fresh Prince finished Will Smith’s former turntablist has come a long way from the suburbs of his hometown. The duo were instrumental in bringing hip-hop to a wider audience, and as his old pal went about becoming one of the world’s most recognisable movie stars, Jeff set about making a name for himself as one of hip-hop’s most popular DJs.

After almost three decades in the game, he insists on keeping it real. “My approach has not changed a lot,” he said. “I have never considered myself a hip-hop DJ – I play all kinds of music, that’s how I came up. We played whatever made people move, so I’ve never gotten away from that mindset.”

Jeff’s genre-hopping hip-hop history lesson isn’t the only nostalgia trip taking place at SWG3 tomorrow night. Simultaneously, Sub Club regulars the I AM will be bringing their mind-melting Tron tribute to the venue’s TV Studio.

Imagine being stuck inside the Teletext on your Gran’s old television set, dodging deadly cathode rays while being bombarded by banging house and techno. That goes some way to describing the mind-blowing set design that characterises these unmissable nights, but you’re still not there. “Planning, production and execution will be on a scale not seen before,” the Subbie residents said. “We cannot wait for you to step over the computer world threshold with us.”

Less ominous is the prospect of Julio Bashmore, who steps up to the same plate on Saturday. Bristol’s bassiest hirsute house heavyweight commands a cult following across the country: last time he was in town, it was at the raucous Electric Frog festival; needless to say, he slayed. Inspired by the soulful French Touch sound, garage and “a very long, extensive, and quite expensive obsession with early 1980s African electro,” Bashmore has style and substance in abundance: this is a DJ at the peak of his powers.

• DJ Jazzy Jeff, tomorrow, SWG3, 10pm – 2am, £15

• I AM – Enter Tron, tomorrow, SWG3, 9pm – 3am, £18.50

• Julio Bashmore, Saturday, SWG3, 10pm – 2am, £15

Chase & Status

It is a weekend for bassy British dance acts. If that’s your “hing” – and everyone has one, as the much-quoted sketch from Limmy’s Show exposed – then Saturday is pretty much Christmas and your birthday rolled into one. If you’re after a wee appetiser before Bashmore at SWG3 (an amuse-oreille, perhaps?), get down to the Gorbals, where Londoners Chase & Status are bringing their stadium-sized crowd pleasers to the O2 Academy. Last time the drum-and-bass-dabbling dubstep dons were in Scotland, they were making a field full of bams go tonto at T in the Park. This time, in the dark, sweaty surrounds of this cavernous ex-cinema, will be slightly more intimate – but no less raucous, of course.

• Chase & Status, Saturday, O2 Academy, 7pm – 10pm, £30

Jennifer Cardini

After 18 years traversing the coolest clubs in Europe, Jennifer Cardini doesn’t need to worry too much about being pigeonholed anymore. “I have no shame in jumping from genre to genre,” she said earlier this year. “I like it when a set… tells a story: I aim for a rollercoaster of energy and emotions.” This is a DJ who sees the audience as more than just spectators, and she has no time for the idea of the person in the booth being an “educator”.

“Twenty years of dance floors made me the DJ I am today, so I see it more like a partnership. When you dance or play tennis with a good partner you feel challenged ¬– it’s exciting and that’s the best way to achieve progress. I always try to go where I want, but I’m always attentive to the audience.” Cardini is a DJ’s DJ: a maverick operator who effortlessly plays classic house with the energy of a straight-up techno spinner. Like every Subculture, this one will delight purists and casual house heads alike.

On Sunday, the Subbie plays host to a special one-off fundraiser for the Save Fabric campaign that is fighting to keep one of London’s most famous clubs in business. Local house selector Denis Sulta, Optimo, Éclair Fifi and Harri and Dom are on board, as are Slam. "We've had a long relationship with Fabric, having resided in Room 2 for some years now,” the legendary duo said. “The club had become like a second home to us. We've already seen one club close, with The Arches in Glasgow last year, and we want to do everything we can to try to help [the Fabric team] overcome the closure."

• Jennifer Cardini, Saturday, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £10

• #SaveFabric with Terry Francis, Sunday, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £10