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Willard Carroll Smith II is an American actor, rapper and film producer. He has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards. As of 2024, his films have grossed over $9.3 billion globally, making him one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.
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.
Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey.
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.
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after which point the award was split into two categories: Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. These two categories were combined again in 2012 as a result of a restructure of Grammy categories, and the reinstated Award for Best Rap Performance was presented at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012. The restructuring was the consequence of the Recording Academy's wish to decrease the number of categories and awards and to eliminate distinctions between solo and duo or group performances.
Dance Party USA is an American dance television show that aired daily on cable's USA Network from April 12, 1986, to June 27, 1992. It was originally a half-hour, but was expanded to an hour in 1987.
Big Willie Style is the debut solo album by American rapper and actor Will Smith. It was released on November 25, 1997, by Columbia Records. The album was primarily produced by Poke & Tone, with other contributors including L.E.S. and Smith's former collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff. The album was the first to be released by Smith since 1993's Code Red, the last by the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Five singles were released, including Smith's first US Billboard Hot 100 number one, "Gettin' Jiggy wit It".
He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper is the second studio album by American hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. It was the first double album in hip hop music, and was the eighth rap album to become a platinum album.
And in This Corner… is the third studio album released by MC/DJ duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The album was released in October 1989, reaching #39 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. The album was not released on Compact Disc in the UK. However, it was available on this format in most of Europe.
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.
Code Red is the fifth and final studio album by the American hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, released on October 12, 1993, on Jive Records. The album peaked at number sixty-four on the Billboard 200 and number thirty-nine on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. On January 14, 1994, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album gold. Four singles reached the Billboard charts; "Boom! Shake the Room", "I'm Looking for the One ","I Wanna Rock", and "Can't Wait to Be With You".
"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.
Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. The album includes several of the duo's biggest hits, including "Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble", "Parents Just Don't Understand", and "Summertime". This also includes the previously unreleased track "Lovely Daze", and two solo tracks by Will Smith from his major-motion picture film, Men in Black.
"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.
"Yo Home to Bel-Air", informally known as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme", is a song performed by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. It is the theme song to the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Lyrics were composed by sitcom star Will Smith, performing under his stage name "The Fresh Prince", and the song was produced by Jeffrey Townes under his stage name "DJ Jazzy Jeff".
James Lassiter is an American film producer, known for being co-founder of Overbrook Entertainment and longtime business partner of actor and rapper Will Smith.
The Million Dollar Backpack is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper and record producer Skillz. It was released on July 22, 2008 via Big Kidz Music and Koch Records. Recording sessions took place at Homecookin Studios, Larry Gold's The Studio and The Boom Room in Philadelphia, at Portside Sound, at Donland Studios, at Chung King Studios in New York, at K1 Laboratories, at The House That Quest Built. Production was handled by Bink!, Fusion Unlimited, Khari Ferrari, Carvin & Ivan, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Jake One, James Poyser, Jimmy "Slim" Rose, Kwamé, ?uestlove, Usef Dinero, and Skillz himself. It features guest appearances from Black Thought, Common and Freeway.
Jeffrey Miree, also known as MC Jazzy Jeff, is an American rapper and member of the Funky 4 + 1 who was active from 1979 to 2002.
"Ring My Bell" is the second single released from American hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's fourth studio album, Homebase (1991). The song sampled and shared the same name as Anita Ward's 1979 hit, "Ring My Bell", though the original lyrics were replaced by those written by the Fresh Prince. Nevertheless, The song's original writer, Fredrick Knight was sole writer who received writing credits. The song appears on Smith's series, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the closing credits from "The Mother of All Battles" off the season 2 episode.
References
- 1 2 3 John, Derek L. (2006-12-05). "Lips Inc". The Village Voice . Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- ↑ "Will Smith Biography". Yahoo! Movies . Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- ↑ "Clarence Holmes v. Willard Smith Jr., a/k/a Will Smith; Will Smith Enterprises; Jeffrey Townes; et al. (No. 03-1171)" (PDF). law.villanova.edu. Villanova University School of Law. April 16, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2011. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
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