DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime (12" DJ Jazzy Jeff's Mix)
- 12 INCH VINYL
- Feb 28
- 3 min read
Updated: May 20
Jeff Townes (aka DJ Jazzy Jeff) and Will Smith (aka The Fresh Prince) met at a house party in their hometown of Philadelphia in 1985.
Townes was DJing when his hype man failed to show up, and Smith, who was in the crowd, stepped in to freestyle.
The pair instantly connected and soon formed a hip-hop duo, and secured a contract with Jive Records.
They had their first UK chart hit a year later with Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble (#21) and found US success in 1988 with Parents Just Don't Understand (#12) and A Nightmare on My Street (#15), though most of their 1980s releases did not reach the Top 40.
Despite their success, Smith mismanaged his finances and, by 1990, owed $2.8 million in unpaid taxes. The IRS seized his possessions, including cars and homes.
Around this time, he met TV and record producer Benny Medina, who said he had an idea for a TV show loosely based on Smith's life.
Medina took Smith to a party at the home of producer Quincy Jones, who had just launched his own entertainment company. Jones asked Smith to audition on the spot. His performance impressed Jones, who arranged a formal audition with NBC executives, who commissioned the show.
As a result, Quincy Jones, Will Smith, and Jeff Townes collaborated on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show debuted in September 1990 and became a cultural phenomenon, running for six seasons over six years.
Smith immediately recognised this was a potentially pivotal moment for his career and threw himself into his work, balancing his acting role in Los Angeles with writing and recording new material with Townes.
Their new project was a DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince album called Homebase, with Chicago-based producers Hula (Lamar Hula Mahone) and K. Fingers (Craig Simpkins).
After completing the recording sessions, Hula and K. Fingers gave Smith an instrumental backing track featuring samples of the famous ARP 2600 synth lines from Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness.
Smith listened to the instrumental while traveling and was immediately drawn to it. When his flight back to Los Angeles was delayed, he wrote all the lyrics for Summertime on the spot at the airport.
When he came to record the track, Smith’s voice was hoarse from a night at a party, forcing him to deliver the vocal at a lower pitch than usual. He says he tried to emulate the style of Rakim, one of his favourite rappers.
The lyrics to Summertime only exist because Smith was living in Los Angeles due to his acting career. They express a nostalgia for the summers he enjoyed as a teenager, hanging out in West Philadelphia with Townes and others.
Summertime became a worldwide hit for DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, following the video premiering at the end of an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
The duo won a Grammy Award for the track, and it was certified Platinum in both the UK and the US.
The due enjoyed another global hit two years later, Boom! Shake The Room, before Smith embarked on a solo music and Hollywood acting career. Townes continued to contribute to Smith’s solo records, and record, produce and perform as DJ Jazzy Jeff. His remix of Summertime, from the UK 12" single, is featured here.
Year: 1991 Label: Jive
Cat No: JIVE T 279
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