Homebase | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 23, 1991 | |||
Recorded | May 1990–April 1991 | |||
Studio | Battery Studios Soundtrack Studios (New York City, New York) Warehouse/J.E.M Recording Studios (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 53:04 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince chronology | ||||
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Singles from Homebase | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Calgary Herald | B [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | B− [3] |
Los Angeles Times | (favorable) [4] |
NME | 4/10 [5] |
Q | [6] |
Rolling Stone | [7] |
Homebase is the fourth studio album released by hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The album was released on July 23, 1991, reaching number 12 on the Billboard 200 charts and number 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It received generally favorable reviews from critics. The album was certified Platinum and won an American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album in 1992.
Four singles were released from the album: "Summertime", "The Things That U Do", "Ring My Bell", and "You Saw My Blinker". The second track on and lead single from the album, "Summertime", earned the duo a second Grammy Award for Best Single in early 1992. Smith admitted that he tried to make his voice sound deeper than usual for this album, as many fans enjoyed the track "Then She Bit Me" from the duo's previous album, And in This Corner... , which was sung in this style, while "You Saw My Blinker" is one of only two instances in which Smith uses obscenities in his music. The single "Ring My Bell" reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 22 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart. [8] [9]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I'm All That" |
| 3:43 |
2. | "Summertime" |
| 4:30 |
3. | "The Things That U Do" |
| 4:56 |
4. | "This Boy Is Smooth" |
| 4:58 |
5. | "Ring My Bell" |
| 4:44 |
6. | "A Dog Is a Dog" |
| 4:29 |
7. | "Caught in the Middle (Love & Life)" |
| 4:21 |
8. | "Trapped on the Dance Floor" |
| 5:19 |
9. | "Who Stole the D.J." |
| 4:50 |
10. | "You Saw My Blinker" |
| 4:14 |
11. | "Dumb Dancin'" |
| 4:55 |
12. | "Summertime (Reprise)" |
| 2:05 |
Total length: | 53:04 |
Chart (1991) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [10] | 110 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [11] | 33 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [12] | 43 |
UK Albums (OCC) [13] | 69 |
US Billboard 200 [14] | 12 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [15] | 5 |
Chart (1991) | Position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200 [16] | 73 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [17] | 53 |
Title | Year | Chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Pop [8] | US R&B [9] | ||
"Summertime" | 1991 | 4 | 1 |
"Ring My Bell" | 20 | 22 | |
"The Things That U Do" | 1992 | — | 43 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [18] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [19] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of rapper Will Smith and disc jockey Jeff Townes. Active full time from 1986 to 1994 and occasionally thereafter, the duo became just the third rap group in recorded history to receive platinum certification, after Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys. The group received the first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1989 for "Parents Just Don't Understand" (1988), though their most successful single was "Summertime" (1991), which earned the group their second Grammy and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Will Smith and Jeff Townes have remained close friends and claim they never split up, having made songs together under Smith's solo performer credit. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince have sold over 5.5 million albums in the US. They also performed together as recently as September 2019.
Jeffrey Allen Townes, known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff, is an American DJ, record producer and actor. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, along with DJs Spinbad and Cash Money, with making the transformer scratch famous.
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