For countless contemporary audiences, the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince mainly brings to mind the launch of an enormous music and film career for the second member, who performs today under his birth name of Will Smith. During their peak years, however, the Philadelphia pair helped open rap to mainstream pop listeners and to younger fans alike. Smith's rhymes stayed strictly PG-rated, and his friendly, likable nature shone through the lighthearted narratives that ran through many of his strongest tracks. His collaborator, Jeff Townes, ranked among Philadelphia's top DJs, an imaginative scratcher who supplied fittingly playful musical settings. In an era when rap sought to claim the streets as its genuine territory, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince drew frequent criticism as lightweight, juvenile fare, lacking the aggression, outrage, rawness, or city edge that matched the dominant hip-hop style then in vogue. With the benefit of time, though, their widespread popularity clearly stemmed from simply remaining authentic rather than courting suburban youth or pretending to be anything other than themselves. As a result, their strongest material still feels vibrant, brimming with youthful vitality and effortless humor, and stands among the most engaging pop-rap records of its period.
DJ Jazzy Jeff (born Jeffrey Townes, January 22, 1965) and the Fresh Prince (born Willard Smith, September 25, 1968) first joined forces in 1986 after performing together at a house party following separate years spent immersed in Philadelphia's hip-hop scene. Later that same year they appeared at the New Music Seminar, where Jeff finished first in the DJ competition; the exposure led to a recording contract with Jive, and the Fresh Prince declined his admission to M.I.T. Their debut single, "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble," centered on a sample of the theme from "I Dream of Jeannie," and the playful video helped the pair build an audience via MTV. The exposure supported their 1987 debut album, Rock the House, which achieved gold status and paved the way for their breakthrough with the 1988 follow-up He's the D.J., I'm the Rapper. One of rap's earliest double-LP releases (thanks to several tracks that spotlighted Jeff's turntable skills), the set also became one of the genre's strongest sellers to that point, surpassing 2.5 million copies after the humorous video for "Parents Just Don't Understand" turned into a major MTV success. A lighthearted take on the generation gap, "Parents Just Don't Understand" reached number 12 on the singles charts, earned gold certification, and captured the first rap Grammy ever awarded; the duo toured widely behind the hit, benefiting from smoother dealings with concert promoters thanks to their non-threatening image.
Hip-hop proved an especially challenging arena for maintaining career momentum. Although it arrived only a year later, And in This Corner... drew far less notice—despite also going gold—partly because the lead single, "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson," never ignited. The project also suffered from a swiftly shifting hip-hop landscape; De La Soul's widely praised debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, had shown that positivity and humor could thrive in the genre without relying on comic-novelty tones, while countless new pop-rap trends seemed to emerge weekly. Yet Smith's appearances in the duo's videos had caught the attention of television executives. Persuaded that Smith could become a warm, charismatic, clean-cut presence on screen, NBC offered him the lead in a sitcom titled after his rap persona, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which centered on a young Philadelphian relocated to live with wealthy relatives in California. Although Smith had not yet honed his acting craft, the network proved correct about his comedic draw, and the series ran successfully for six seasons; Townes received a recurring role as Smith's street-wise friend, aptly named Jazz.
After stepping back from DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince to focus on establishing the sitcom, Smith reunited with his partner in 1991, supported by their heightened profile. Incorporating additional outside productions, Homebase returned Townes and Smith to platinum sales and yielded their biggest hit in the relaxed, easygoing party track "Summertime," in which Smith fondly recalled summers spent growing up in Philadelphia in a manner that resonated across generations. "Summertime" became their sole Top Five pop single, reaching number four. A subsequent album, Code Red, appeared in 1993 but met with modest U.S. sales; interestingly, the single "Boom! Shake the Room" became their first number one hit in the U.K. Smith nevertheless chose to devote himself fully to acting, delivering a critically praised performance in Six Degrees of Separation (also 1993). Demonstrating his viability on the big screen, he went on to headline numerous large-scale Hollywood productions, including Independence Day, Men in Black, Enemy of the State, Wild Wild West, and Ali (the last of which earned him an Oscar nomination). He further resumed his music career as a solo artist, moving far more units than he had with DJ Jazzy Jeff thanks to his widespread visibility. Townes, for his part, established the production company A Touch of Jazz and contributed as producer and mixer to several hip-hop and R&B acts (including select solo recordings by Smith).
