On March 29, 1988, an album that propelled two kids from West
Philadelphia into the stratosphere of international fame was released on Jive
Records: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s He’s the DJ, I’m
the Rapper. Their debut LP, 1987’s Rock the House, included the mild hit
single, “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble,” but it was the
duo’s sophomore effort, which eventually sold enough to be certified triple
platinum, that ranks among the most successful hip-hop records ever—and
certainly the most successful out of Philadelphia.
He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper made Jeffrey Townes and
Will Smith household names throughout their beloved hometown, while subsequently
putting Philly on the map and the global stage in ways that still resonate a
quarter-century later. Townes remains one of the most respected spinmasters
in the world, and Smith has become one of the highest grossing actors in Hollywood
and part owner of the 76ers.
But DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were absolute underdogs
at the time. They were making rap music, but didn’t sound like anyone
else, didn’t look like anyone else and almost didn’t fit in—except
that they did. Why? Because they were “regular kids from the neighborhood”
that hip-hop could relate to. What set them apart was that they were making
music that was slightly ahead of the curve.
Back then, a lot of good music was coming out of Philadelphia,
but New York City had hip-hop on lock. In fact, to the rest of the country,
hip-hop coming out of anywhere from Boston to Philadelphia was known as “New
York rap.” But what Philadelphia did have was DJs. Everyone knew that
DJing here was pure art. Sure, it’s an art form anywhere it’s done
well, but in Philly, DJing was taken to the next level. Hip-hop DJs were known
for cutting and scratching the records, which means moving the vinyl LPs back
and forth on the turntable to create a completely different sound. (If you needed
that explanation, you should probably learn more about the history of hip-hop.)
But instead of just creating sounds to complement the actual recording, Philly
DJs would make entirely new beats using the scratching sound. Instead of their
hands, they would cut with their elbows, their chin or even a sneaker—anything
to put on a good show. Performances often would consist of an emcee not rapping,
but just touting what his DJ was about to do next.
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince didn’t follow the New
York model for rap groups: an emcee backed by a DJ who kind of just stood around
and placed records on and off the turntables. Those two showcased the DJ in
a way that no one else was doing. They stood out partly because they had a creative
stage show, but mostly because they put DJ Jazzy Jeff front and center, making
his scratching and cutting the most anticipated part of their act. And no one
did it as skillfully.
Jeff still travels all over the world DJing shows and parties,
forever representing Philly via his ever-present Phillies cap. But before his
most recent sojourn, he shared a few memories with PW about the time he and
Smith spent hotel-bound in England recording He’s the DJ, I’m the
Rapper and the exciting period before—and during—its release in
1988, recalling their Grammy Awards boycott and everything from those initial
“for-the-suburbs” criticisms to the night he got caught with his
pants down.
When it was time to do the second album, [our record label] Jive
was like, “Listen, we want you guys to go to London. We have some people;
we have studios over there. We just think you should go.” And we were
like, “Wow!”
So, I packed up my drum machines and all the rest of that stuff and got ready
to go. It was crazy because I actually got into a car accident with Lady B,
the radio personality, and shattered my kneecap about a month before we were
supposed to go. I had a cast from my hip to my ankle, going to London to do
this album.
The first night we get there, we find out that a really big Def
Jam tour was over there, with Public Enemy and a bunch of other artists. Of
course, we had done shows with these guys, so we decided we were gonna just
show up. So, we go to the club, and everybody in line is like, “Oh shit!
That’s Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince!” We walk up, and the guy
at the door says, “We don’t allow cripples in here.” We try
to explain to him who I am, but he wouldn’t let us in. He didn’t
believe us. We all ended up leaving, and I ended up jumping in the cab with
a broken leg and going back to the hotel.
I had all my equipment set up in the hotel room, and I would
make beats there. Will would write, and we would take it to the studio that
night. We worked pretty much from about 4 in the afternoon to about 5 in the
morning. We were there for a month, and I saw daylight maybe about four or five
days. We would go to the studio and work, and by the time we came out, we would
get back to the hotel just in time to go to breakfast, then to the room to go
to sleep. Then we’d wake up and go back to the studio.
That schedule worked for us. I made “Brand New Funk”
one morning going to bed. They had guys over there that would help us; I would
make stuff and a guy would end up playing bass lines and stuff over it.
Before we started on that album, we were in the process of doing
a DJ album, and we already had those songs done, so when we started recording
songs for He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper, I was like, “Yo, why
don’t we put both of these albums together and just do a double album?”
It was kinda funny because no one had ever thought to do that. We just made
the suggestion, and Jive was like, “Yo, that might be great. It would
be the first rap double album.”
So, we already had half of that done, and we just started piecing
together the songs and figuring out which ones we were gonna have on the record.
One of the shows that we did was at Union Square in New York, and it just so
happens that [New York radio DJ] Mr. Magic taped it. I just did a DJ routine
and didn’t even think anyone was taping it. We did that at every show.
He started playing the show on the radio, and people were calling in and requesting
that part. It got so big that it really helped me as a DJ, especially in New
York. So, we called Mr. Magic and asked if we could have a copy of the tape
because I had suggested we put that on the album, too. So “Live at Union
Square” was actually a cassette recording of us performing at Union Square.
We sat in the studio and compiled all of the records and started
mixing it and tried to figure out what we wanted to put out first. We were trying
to do something that was a little bit harder, with some scratches in it, maybe
some human beatbox stuff, and I remember one of the producers who was working
with us saying, “‘Parents Just Don’t Understand’ should
be the first single.”
Me and Will were like, “No, no, no, no, no.” And
he was just like, “I’m telling you, ‘Parents Just Don’t
Understand’ is a smash hit.”
It was really, really interesting how that was not our favorite
record at all, but he had been around a little bit, and we were smart enough
to know that even though we may not agree, he may know what he was talking about.
It wasn’t like we did any records on the album that we hated; there were
just records we liked more.
We had been in London for a month, and I had exceeded the time
my cast was supposed to be on, and it started irritating my leg. One night,
Will was like, “Listen, man. I can get your cast off.” So, he called
downstairs and ordered about 25 butter knives. I pulled my pants down and was
in my underwear, and he proceeded to try to saw my cast off. He got it halfway,
and then he ripped it. He couldn’t get it completely off, so the cast
was looking like a budding flower, and I couldn’t get my pants on or nothing.
He was laughing because he didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave
the hotel like that to go to the hospital to have them cut it off, so we ended
up having to track [then-acting manager and their friend from Philly] James
Lassiter down. JL ended up coming in and taking a steak knife and sawing it
off. JL tells that story to this day.
Finally, it was time to go home.
Back in the U.S., right before the album came out, we did a show
in Columbus, Ohio. It was with Whodini and somebody else, and Russell Simmons
was there. We approached Russell right there and told him that we were really
big fans, and we needed a good manager—somebody that’s gonna do
something. We told him that we would appreciate it if he would just watch the
show, and we could talk to him after.
philadelphiaweekly.com
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