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 performed together as recently as November 2023.
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.
Perspective Records is an American record label, launched in 1991 by the producing team Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, through a joint venture with A&M Records—which Jam & Lewis had had a prosperous working relationship with throughout the 1980s, with several of its major acts including Janet Jackson, The Human League, and label founder Herb Alpert.
Mint Condition is an American R&B band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band is focused on diverse genres such as jazz, hip hop, funk and dance. Mint Condition has also been nominated for one Grammy and three Soul Train Awards. The group is credited with being one of the last major funk bands to chart before hip-hop and new jack swing dominated black music in the 1990s.
Stokley Williams also known simply as Stokley, is an American singer, record producer, and percussionist. Williams is best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the band Mint Condition.
"Boom! Shake the Room" is a song by American hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The track samples the 1973 song "Funky Worm" by the Ohio Players. Released on July 16, 1993 by Jive, as the second single from the duo's fifth studio album, Code Red (1993), the single peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts of Australia, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Scott Kalvert.
"Summertime" is a song by American hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, released in May 1991 as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Homebase (1991). The song was produced by Chicago-based producers Hula and K. Fingers, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 1992 Grammy Awards. It spent a week at number #1 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart, as well as reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also became the duo's first single to enter the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #8.
"Funky President (People It's Bad)" is a funk song by James Brown. Released as a single in 1974, it charted No. 4 R&B. It also appeared on the album Reality. According to Brown the "funky president" of the song's title was meant to refer to U.S. President Gerald Ford, who had succeeded Richard Nixon in the White House shortly before it was recorded.
Provocative is the fourth album by American R&B recording artist Johnny Gill. It was his second album for Motown Records and fourth album overall.
"A Nightmare on My Street" is the third single from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's second studio album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. The song became a crossover hit in the US, reaching #15 on the Hot 100. The song was released as a single in early 1988 on vinyl and cassette tape. The song humorously describes an encounter with the horror film villain Freddy Krueger and was considered for inclusion in the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, but the producers of the film decided against its inclusion.
"My Thang" is a funk song written and recorded by James Brown. Unlike most of his songs, this song was released not as a two-part single, but instead issued with three different B-sides. It spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart - Brown's second #1 in a row, following "The Payback" - and reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1974. The song also appeared on Brown's 1974 double album Hell.
The Fight of My Life is the ninth Gospel album by Kirk Franklin on GospoCentric Records.
Mo' Money: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1992 film of the same name. It was released June 23, 1992, on Perspective Records. The soundtrack peaked at six on the Billboard 200 chart. By September 1992, it was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA, after sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies in the United States.
E-Life is the sixth studio album by the band Mint Condition issued in 2008 on Image Entertainment. The album reached No. 8 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 12 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart.
Hello Fear is the tenth album overall by Kirk Franklin. The live portion of the album was recorded on December 17, 2010, according to information on social media. It is his first to be released through Verity Gospel Music Group The first single "I Smile" reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his first single in six years to appear on that chart; last single to do so was "Looking for You" in 2005 which reached number 61. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 with 87,000 copies sold in the first week, becoming his first album in nine years to debut in the top ten; last album being The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin in 2002 which debuted at number four. The album has sold over 401,000 copies, ranking as the 64th highest selling album in the US in 2011. On February 12, 2012, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA. In 2012, the album won Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album. As of August 2015, the album has sold 572,000 copies in the US.
The Light of the Sun is the fourth studio album by American singer Jill Scott. It was recorded after Scott's four-year break from her music career and departure from her former label, Hidden Beach Recordings. The Light of the Sun was recorded at several studios and produced primarily by Scott and JR Hutson, a songwriter and producer who had previously worked on her 2007 record The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. Music journalists noted The Light of the Sun for its neo soul sound, element of improvisation, and Scott's themes of emotion and womanhood.
From the Mint Factory is the second studio album by American R&B band Mint Condition. The album was released on October 5, 1993, on Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' record label Perspective Records. The album peaked and charted at number 104 on the Billboard 200 and number 18 on the Top R&B Albums chart.
Definition of a Band is the third studio album by the R&B band Mint Condition. It was released on September 24, 1996, on Perspective Records. Definition of a Band was Mint Condition's most successful recording to date, yielding two hit singles and a Gold certification from the RIAA.
Life's Aquarium is the fourth studio album by American R&B group Mint Condition. The album was released on November 16, 1999, and it is their first album released for Elektra Records.
"It Keeps You Runnin'" is a song by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The song was written by band member Michael McDonald, and served as the third single from their sixth studio album Takin' It to the Streets (1976). It was also covered by Carly Simon the same year and released as the lead single from her sixth studio album Another Passenger.
