<TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">DJ Jazzy Jeff &amp; The Fresh Prince was a 1980s and 1990s rap trio/duo. The vocalist of this duo, Will Smith (a.k.a. the Fresh Prince), met Jeff Townes (a.k.a. DJ Jazzy Jeff) while trying to make a name for himself in West Philadelphia’s local party/rap scene. After joining forces with Clarence Holmes aka Ready Rock C, the team became local celebrities, although Holmes left the group in 1990. They received the first rap Grammy ever in 1989 for &quot;Parent&apos;s Just Don&apos;t Understand&quot;. The two are still friends to this day, and claim that they never split up but rather made their songs under Will Smith&apos;s solo.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Philadelphia-based Pop Art Records released their first single in late 1985: &quot;Girls Ain&apos;t Nothing but Trouble&quot;, a tale of misadventures with the opposite sex. The song sampled the theme song of I Dream of Jeannie. Smith became known for light-hearted story-telling raps and capable, though profanity-free, &quot;battle&quot; rhymes. Townes was known for his turntable acrobatics, and he is credited by many as inventing a style of scratching called &quot;transforming&quot;.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Based off this success, the duo were brought to the attention of Jive Records and Russell Simmons. The duo&apos;s first album, Rock the House, debuted on Jive in March of 1987. The album sold about 300,000 units. That same year, the band found themselves on their first major tour with Run DMC, Public Enemy, and others. Their 1988 follow-up album, He&apos;s the DJ, I&apos;m the Rapper made them multi-platinum stars. Mostly recorded in the UK, the album was rap music&apos;s first double-vinyl LP release (also issued as a single cassette and CD). &quot;Parents Just Don’t Understand&quot;, the lead-off single, made them MTV household names, and tracks like &quot;Brand New Funk&quot; were received well by their fans. Rock the House was re-released to gold sales later that year.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Another single, &quot;Nightmare on My Street&quot;, showcased a fictional confrontation with movie villain Freddy Krueger. Coinciding with the release of the fourth Nightmare on Elm Street film (1988’s The Dream Master), New Line Cinema was not best pleased. A video allegedly shot for the single was buried, and a disclaimer was hastily included on pressings of the album indicating that the record was not officially affiliated with any of the &quot;Nightmare&quot; films. (Ironically, Jive Records ended up releasing the soundtrack to the next film in the series, The Dream Child.)</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">1989 saw the release of And in this Corner..., which sold gold, but the duo&apos;s popularity was slipping. The crossover curse of various rap acts had come to pass, as their initial audience felt they had become too accessible; non-crossover rap acts like Big Daddy Kane and Boogie Down Productions had bigger street followings; meanwhile, pop radio had latched on to new faces like Tone Loc and Young MC, while non-radio followers became more enamored with hardcore acts like Ice-T and 2 Live Crew.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Due to a self-admitted spendthrift attitude[citation needed], Smith felt he had nothing to lose when a producer from NBC approached him with an idea for a sitcom, with Townes appearing as a recurring character. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air boosted his profile and his pocketbook, giving him the leverage to stage a comeback album in 1991, Homebase. The platinum album featured the lead-off single “Summertime”, which has become one of their most enduring hits. Code Red, their last studio LP as a duo was released in 1993 to gold sales, with the single &quot;Boom! Shake the Room&quot; reaching #1.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Shortly afterward, Smith began to pursue acting full-time. He played his first lead role in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation. 1996’s Independence Day cemented him as a major draw, and he left the Fresh Prince sitcom that same year. Strangely, he and Townes ended up being sued by Jive, who alleged that the duo was still under contract to create more albums. In an interview, Smith has stated that while shooting Men in Black he approached Jive with the &quot;Men in Black&quot; single; they turned him down, saying that it couldn’t be a hit. In the aftermath of the movie and soundtrack’s success, the duo settled the lawsuit out of court. Hence, their greatest hits compilation includes two cuts from the M.I.B. soundtrack.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Since then, Smith has released three Columbia/Sony albums under his own name; a separate &quot;solo&quot; hits CD was released in 2003. Townes recorded an aborted album for Columbia in 1999 (including a song with Eminem, however the track was not released), and then independently released The Magnificent in 2002. He has also become an R&amp;B producer of note, overseeing releases by Jill Scott and others.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">In Smith&apos;s new album Lost &amp; Found, Jazzy Jeff produced the first track, and has also done scratches on various solo Will Smith songs, such as Wild Wild West and Pump Ya Brakes featuring Snoop Dogg.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT>