| DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince | |
|---|---|
| Origin | West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1985–1994 |
| Labels | Word-Up, Jive |
| Members | |
| The Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff |
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| Past members | |
| Ready Rock C | |
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince is a hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rapper Will Smith (The Fresh Prince) met Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff) while trying to make a name for himself in West Philadelphia's local hip hop scene. After joining forces with Clarence Holmes (Ready Rock C) the team members became local celebrities. Holmes left the group in 1990, and later sued it in 1999.[1]
The group received the first rap Grammy ever in 1989 for "Parents Just Don't Understand", though their most successful single was "Summertime" which earned the group their second Grammy and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Will Smith and Jeff Townes are still friends and claim that they never split up, having made songs under Smith's solo performer credit.[2] DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince have sold over 5.5 million albums in the US.
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Jeff Townes and Will Smith were introduced to each other by chance in 1985. One night, Townes was performing at a house party only a few doors down from Smith's residence, and he was missing his hype man. Smith decided to fill in and both felt strong chemistry: so much that Townes was upset when his hype man finally made it to the party.[3]
Soon after, the two decided to join forces. Smith enlisted a friend to join as the beatboxer of the group, Clarence Holmes (Ready Rock C), making them a trio. Philadelphia-based Word Up Records released their first single in late 1985 to 1986 when A&R man Paul Oakenfold[4] introduced them to Word Up with their single "Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble," a tale of funny misadventures that landed Smith and his former DJ and rap partner Mark Forrest (Lord Supreme) [5] The song sampled the theme song of "I Dream of Jeannie." Smith became known for light-hearted story-telling raps and capable, though profanity-free, "battle" rhymes. The single became a hit a month before Smith graduated from high school.[6] Townes was known for his turntable acrobatics, and he is credited by many as inventing a style of scratching called transforming.
Based on this success, the duo were brought to the attention of Jive Records and Russell Simmons. The duo's first album, Rock the House, which was first released on Word Up in 1986 debuted on Jive in March of 1987. The album sold about 300,000 units. That same year, the band found themselves on their first major tour with Run DMC, Public Enemy, and others.
Their 1988 follow-up album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, made them multi-platinum stars. Mostly recorded in the United Kingdom, the album was rap music's first double-vinyl LP release; it was also issued as a single cassette and CD. "Parents Just Don't Understand", the lead-off single, made them MTV household names and also gained the honor of the first Grammy for a hip hop/rap song, which was met to mixed feelings. Nevertheless, the single was a success, launching the group into even more mainstream stardom.
The video showed Prince's misadventures of trying to get around his parents' strict rules in a very comical way, very much like their first single "Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble". It gained much airplay on TV channels such as MTV, giving the group much attention. The song was played in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ("Someday Your Prince Will Be In Effect (Part 1)"), and referenced in two other episodes of the same series ("The Fresh Prince Project" and "Not With My Pig, You Don't").
Another single, "Nightmare on My Street", showcased a fictional confrontation with movie villain Freddy Krueger. Coinciding with the release of the fourth Nightmare on Elm Street film (1988’s The Dream Master); New Line Cinema was not pleased. A video allegedly shot for the single was buried, and a disclaimer was hastily included on pressings of the album indicating that the record was not officially affiliated with any of the Nightmare films. (Ironically, Jive Records ended up releasing the soundtrack to the next film in the series, The Dream Child.) After this success, in 1988 the lead singles from Rock the House, including "Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble", were re-released and changed a bit from their original 1985 release, referencing singles "Nightmare on My Street" and "Parents Just Don't Understand":
Jeff reveals on track 19 of Skillz's Infamous Quotes mixtape that New Line Cinema approached Will & Jeff for a movie role which they ended up turning down. The film was House Party.
Jeff: Man, first your parents just don't understand.
Will: Word, I know, man.
Jeff: Then you have these crazy nightmares.
Will: Why me? Why me?
The last single from He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper was "Brand New Funk" sampled a James Brown song and quotes; however it is Ready Rock C saying get down in the song. In the song, Prince explains how Jeff has brought in a tape that contains a very cool song that he cannot help but rap over, and how fans react to it. The song was well received by many hip hop fans, due because of its funk sound and lyrical spins and the fact that it showed off more of the skills of Jazzy Jeff. The video was shot in black and white, showed live performance clips from a concert, and featured 2 Damn Hype Dancing. This is the only music video to feature the third member of the group, Ready Rock C (it is possible he was in the "Nightmare on My Street" video, but it was allegedly axed).
1989 saw the release of And in This Corner…, the group's third LP. While the sales were a success, reaching gold, the duo's popularity was slipping. The crossover curse of various rap acts had come to pass, as their initial audience felt they had become too accessible; non-crossover rap acts like Big Daddy Kane and Boogie Down Productions had bigger street followings; meanwhile, pop radio had latched on to new faces like Tone Loc and Young MC, while non-radio followers became more enamored with hardcore acts like Ice-T and 2 Live Crew.
The lead single, "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson" was in the same vein as their other lead singles; with this one having Will say he could literally beat Mike Tyson in a boxing match. Jazzy Jeff is shown training Prince to perform this task, and after Prince loses, Jeff then claims that he might be able to do it himself. James Avery and Alfonso Ribeiro (co-stars of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) show up as Don King and member of the fighting crew's posse, respectively.
The next single was "Jazzy's Groove", sampling "Nautilus" in the chorus and bridge. The song features much more of Jazzy Jeff, like in "Brand New Funk"; Jazzy Jeff gives a 'math lesson' by making the sound clips add 1+1, 2+1, and 2+2.
Due to a self-admitted spendthrift attitude,[6] Smith felt he had nothing to lose when a producer from NBC and Quincy Jones approached him with an idea for a sitcom, with Townes appearing as a recurring character, named "Jazz". The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air boosted his profile and his pocketbook. Smith blew through almost 2.8 million dollars, while giving none to the IRS for taxes. Soon after And in This Corner... was released, Smith was sentenced by the IRS to pay this all back. For the first three seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Smith had 25% of his paycheck garnished by the IRS.[6]
Ready Rock C left the group in 1990 due to creative differences. Smith claimed that beatboxing at this time of hip hop was "played out". Holmes later sued the duo in 1999.[1]
Still having a bit of extra money from starring in the successful sitcom, the duo to stage a comeback album in 1991, Homebase. The platinum album featured a more mature sound from the group, with Smith rapping in a deeper, consistent voice and changed their sound to fit the era's trend of hip-hop. Homebase featured the lead-off single “Summertime”, which added rap lyrics to the music of the Kool & the Gang instrumental "Summer Madness" and has become one of their most enduring hits. The video features clips from a family reunion in Philly, and shows the duo being driven around while sitting atop a car. Summertime earned the duo its second Grammy win.
The next singles were "Ring My Bell" and "Things That U Do". Both featured the typical sound of the early 90s. Both videos for the songs featured a different version from the original found on the LP.
The final single for the release was "You Saw My Blinker", a song about an old lady that crashed into Prince's new car and his anger at the events that happened thereafter. This is the first (and one of the only) songs where Smith curses, saying the word 'bitch' (To the left lane I tried to switch, then, you saw my blinker, bitch). Prince's voice is a bit deeper than usual, to make it sound like he's agitated, similar to "Then She Bit Me" from And in This Corner... This song reached #20 Billboard Hot 100 and #22 Hot R&B/Hip Hop singles.
Code Red, their last studio LP as a duo was released in 1993, reaching gold sales. This LP featured a self-admitted harder sound than their other songs, with Jazzy Jeff saying "We wanted to take a new direction. It wasn't that we were concentrating on harder, it was just different",[7] featuring more jazz and soul samples than previous releases. The lead single "Boom! Shake the Room" reached #1 in UK and Australia, and featured a harder sound than any of their other songs. Other singles were "I'm Looking For the One (To Be With Me)", which is similar to "Summertime", and "I Wanna Rock", which showed off more of Jazzy Jeff's DJ skills.
Shortly afterward, Smith began to pursue acting full-time. He played his first lead film role in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation. The 1996 blockbuster Independence Day cemented him as a major draw, and he left the Fresh Prince sitcom that same year. Strangely, he and Townes ended up being sued by Jive, who alleged that the duo was still under contract to create more albums. In an interview, Smith has stated that while shooting Men in Black he approached Jive with the "Men in Black" single; they turned him down, saying that it couldn’t be a hit. In the aftermath of the movie and soundtrack’s success, the duo settled the lawsuit out of court. Hence, their greatest hits compilation includes two cuts from the M.I.B. soundtrack.
Since then, Smith has released three solo CDs on Columbia/Sony records. After being dropped by Columbia he released one CD in 2005 on Interscope. Townes released two albums on the famous UK DJ label BBE. He has also become an R&B producer of note, overseeing releases by Jill Scott, Rhymefest and many others.
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