DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince was a hip-hop - duo from Philadelphia , consisting of the actor and rapper Will Smith and DJ and music producer Jeff Townes was.
history
Smith met Townes at a party when he was 16. Together they later recorded songs that Smith presented to various record companies . 1987 her first appeared Single Girls Is not Nothing but Trouble at the label Word Up Records. Due to small successes, the label Jive Records became aware of the two. Word Up Records then licensed the rights to Jive.
In 1986 Smith, who had taken over the part of "Fresh Prince" in the joint formation, accompanied Jazzy Jeff to the DJ battle of the New Music Seminar (NMS). DJ Jazzy Jeff was able to defeat the then world champion DJ Cheese in the first round and won the competition in the end.
In 1987 the duo released their debut album Rock the House . A year later, the second album He’s the DJ, I'm the Rapper , was released, which went down in music history as the first hip-hop long player to be released on double vinyl. The Fresh Prince, who stood out for his humorous lyrics, became a millionaire at a young age. In 1988 the duo received the first Grammy in the rap category for the track Parents Just Don't Understand . The video was also named "Best Rap Video" at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards .
In 1990, producer Benny Medina offered Will Smith the lead role in a sitcom . Smith accepted the role, playing a boy from Philadelphia who moved to live with relatives in the affluent Bel Air area . The series ran on the US channel NBC and later became known in Germany under the title The Prince of Bel-Air . While the role of Prince of Bel Air laid the foundation for Will Smith's Hollywood career, Jazzy Jeff appeared regularly as a guest on the 144-episode series. Townes also founded the production company "A Touch of Jazz" in the same year.
In 1993 Code Red , the duo's fifth album, was released. In the years that followed, DJ Jazzy Jeff did noticeably worse financially, while Smith starred in Bad Boys (1995), Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997) and Public Enemy No. 1 (1998). In 2001, Will Smith received $ 20 million and an Oscar nomination for the lead role in Ali .
In 2000, Jazzy Jeff worked with ATOJ as Executive Producer on the debut album Who Is Jill Scott? the singer Jill Scott . In the following time Townes concentrated more on the work as a DJ and released the producer album The Magnificent . In January 2005 the producer celebrated his 40th birthday with various DJ colleagues like Biz Markie . The Fresh Prince released the solo albums Born to Reign (2002) and Lost and Found (2005) under his real name at the beginning of the 21st century .
In 2007 it was announced that Will Smith will rededicate himself to his music career and want to perform again with Jazzy Jeff. In November 2018, a video from the year 1988 was distributed from the Friends of Fresh Prince . It shows an unreleased video for Nightmare On My Street . The video had been destroyed by the label at the time because copyright lawsuits were feared.
Discography
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | R&B | |||
1987 | Rock the House | - | - | - |
UK97 (1 week) UK |
US83
gold
(18 weeks)US |
R&B24 (33 weeks) R&B |
First published: March 19, 1987
Producers: Dana Goodman, Lawrence Goodman |
1988 | He's the DJ, I'm the rapper | - | - | - |
UK68 (2 weeks) UK |
US4th × 3
(55 weeks)US |
R&B5 (47 weeks) R&B |
First released: March 29, 1988
Producers: DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince Bryan “Chuck” New, Pete Q. Harris |
1989 | And in This Corner ... | - | - | - | - |
US39
gold
(20 weeks)US |
R&B19 (20 weeks) R&B |
First published: October 31, 1989
Producers: DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, Nigel Green, Pete Q. Harris |
1991 | Home base | - | - | - |
UK69 (1 week) UK |
US12
platinum
(42 weeks)US |
R&B5 (31 weeks) R&B |
First published: July 9, 1991
Producers: Jeff Townes, Craig King, Hula & K. Fingers |
1993 | Code Red |
DE61 (9 weeks) DE |
- |
CH35 (5 weeks) CH |
UK50 (6 weeks) UK |
US64
gold
(15 weeks)US |
R&B39 (12 weeks) R&B |
First published: October 12, 1993
Producers: Pete Rock , Markell Riley, Teddy Riley , Will Smith, Jeff Townes, Hula & K. Fingers, Xavier Hargrove, Victor Emanuel Cooke, Dallas Austin |
Compilations
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | R&B | |||
1998 | Greatest hits |
DE69 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK20th
silver
(6 weeks)UK |
US144 (6 weeks) US |
R&B93 (1 week) R&B |
First published: May 19, 1998
|
More compilations
- 2000: Before the Willenium
- 2003: Platinum & Gold Collection
- 2006: Collections
- 2006: The Very Best of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
- 2010: The Best Of
- 2015: Playlist: The Very Best of DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | R&B | |||
1986 | Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble Rock the House |
- | - | - |
UK21 (8 weeks) UK |
US57 (12 weeks) US |
R&B81 (5 weeks) R&B |
First published: September 1986
Producers: Jeff Townes, Will Smith |
1987 | The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff Rock the House |
- | - | - |
UK93 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B61 (9 weeks) R&B |
First published: February 1987
Producers: Jeff Townes, Will Smith |
A touch of jazz rock the house |
- | - | - |
UK79 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B65 (8 weeks) R&B |
First published: May 1987
Producers: Jeff Townes, Will Smith |
|
1988 | Parents Just Don't Understand He’s the DJ, I'm the Rapper |
- | - | - |
UK87 (4 weeks) UK |
US12 (19 weeks) US |
R&B10 (20 weeks) R&B |
|
A Nightmare on My Street He’s the DJ, I'm the Rapper |
- | - | - | - |
US15 (16 weeks) US |
R&B9 (15 weeks) R&B |
First published July 1988
Producers: Jeff Townes, Will Smith, Pete Q. Harris |
|
Brand New Funk He’s the DJ, I'm the Rapper |
- | - | - | - | - |
R&B76 (9 weeks) R&B |
First published: November 1988
Producers: Jeff Townes, Will Smith |
|
1989 | I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson And in This Corner |
- | - | - |
UK94 (1 week) UK |
US58 (8 weeks) US |
R&B23 (11 weeks) R&B |
First published: October 1989
Producers: Jeff Townes, Will Smith, Pete Q. Harris |
1990 | The Groove And in This Corner |
- | - | - | - | - |
R&B70 (7 weeks) R&B |
|
1991 | Summertime homebase |
DE12 (17 weeks) DE |
- |
CH11 (13 weeks) CH |
UK8th
gold
(19 weeks)UK |
US4th
platinum
(18 weeks)US |
R&B1 (18 weeks) R&B |
First published: June 1991
Grammy (Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group) Authors: Kool & the Gang , Will Smith, Hula, K. Fingers, Ricky West contains samples from Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang, 1974 |
Ring My Bell Homebase |
- | - |
CH29 (1 week) CH |
UK53 (2 weeks) UK |
US20th
gold
(19 weeks)US |
R&B22 (13 weeks) R&B |
||
The Things That U Do Homebase |
- | - | - | - | - |
R&B43 (10 weeks) R&B |
First published: December 1991
Producers: Jeff Townes, Will Smith, Craig King |
|
1993 | Boom! Shake the Room Code Red |
DE8th
gold
(21 weeks)DE |
AT17 (11 weeks) AT |
CH8 (21 weeks) CH |
UK1
silver
(13 weeks)UK |
US13 (20 weeks) US |
R&B21 (16 weeks) R&B |
First published: June 1993
Authors: Keith Mayberry, Lee Haggard, Walter Williams, Will Smith contains samples from Funky Worm by Ohio Players , 1972 |
1994 | I'm Looking for the One (To Be with Me) Code Red |
DE88 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK24 (4 weeks) UK |
US79 (7 weeks) US |
R&B51 (9 weeks) R&B |
First published: November 1993
Authors: Mike Smith, Teddy Riley Contains borrowings from Tell Me If You Still Care by SOS Band , 1983 |
Can't Wait to Be with You Code Red |
- | - | - |
UK29 (5 weeks) UK |
- | - |
First published: February 1994
Authors: Luther Vandross , Will Smith contains samples from Never Too Much by Luther Vandross, 1981 |
|
Twinkle Twinkle (I'm Not a Star) Code Red |
- | - | - |
UK60 (4 weeks) UK |
- | - |
First published: May 1994
Authors: Alton Taylor, Ronald Bell, Jeff Townes, Will Smith |
|
1998 | Lovely Daze Greatest Hits |
- | - | - |
UK37 (2 weeks) UK |
- | - |
First published: June 1998
Author and original: Bill Withers - Lovely Day , 1977 |
More singles
- 1987: Just One of Those Days
- 1988: Don't Even Try It
- 1992: Yo Home to Bel Air
- 1992: You Saw My Blinker
- 1994: I Wanna Rock
- 1998: Greatest Hits - Megamix Sampler
- 1998: Summertime '98
- 2004: The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air (UK:silver)
- 2006: Summertime (2006 Remixes)
swell
- ↑ The Return of "The Fresh Prince"! ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ 30 year old video of DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince surfaced. Retrieved November 13, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US US2
- ↑ a b c gold / platinum databases: DE UK US
Web links
- Website of DJ Jazzy Jeff
- DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince at Discogs (English)
- DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince at Allmusic (English)
- DJ Jazzy Jeff at laut.de
- Will Smith at laut.de