The Fresh Prince of the United Kingdom

The records by US rappers aren't just released here in the US... They're generally released by different labels in different countries all around the world at the same time. For example, while Spyder-D was released here on Telstar cassettes in the states, it was released on ZYX Records in Germany. Usually, they featured the same trick-listings and are generally just less desirable alterations of their original US counter-parts. Sometimes, they'd be a little different... like Cooltempo used to release all the Kid 'N' Play 12"s with exclusive remixes - however these remixes did little to up their long-term value, as they generally sucked.

But every once in a while, a foreign pressing manages to be preferable. As is the case with today's record: "Will 2K" by Will Smith - the UK version.

Now, like most of his post-Fresh Prince output, "Will 2K" isn't a terribly good or interesting song. It follows the Puffy/Pras formula of taking a dated major label pop hit, sampling it in a heavy-handed, uncreative way, and selling it as a new pop song to kids too young to remember the original. In this case, the TrackMasterz have used "Rock the Casbah" with ex-Jodeci man K-Ci on the hook. Nothing special there. But look on the picture cover (I took a nice, high quality photo so you can enlarge and read it), right under the song title in tiny text...

It says, "COMES WITH SO FRESH (FEATURING SLICK RICK AND BIZ MARKIE)." Your version doesn't say that, because your version just has the same song on both sides.* And, really, "So Fresh" is probably the only song most of us heads care about from Will Smith. I mean, none of the verses are amazing (in fact, when you think of what Slick Rick has shown he's capable of, it's a little disappointing), but it's just a fresh, cool-out vibe produced by Jazzy Jeff (who also provides some nice cuts), and Darren Henson.

Now, don't get too excited about this UK 12" - "So Fresh" is a Willenium album track; it's not some super rare 12" exclusive. And, if you can find a copy, there's a nice, promo-only 12" of "So Fresh" that also features the Instrumental and Acapella. That's the ideal one to won IMHO (unless you're just a "Will2K" fan - maybe you've been waiting decades for a rap version of "Rock the Casbah;" it is kinda fun, after all). But this is a nice 12" to pick up, and an easy and cheap one to order online - if you can't find that. And it's just a nice example of that rare case where the foreign 12" is preferable to the domestic.


*Or, if you have the 12" from The Netherlands, you actually get these two songs, plus two more ("Miami" and "Just Cruisin' (Remix)")!

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince UNCENSORED!!

The above title might sound a bit funny, but it's for real. Have you ever noticed how the first song on DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's debut album, Rock the House - their big, hit single "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" - is credited as a 1988 Extended Remix? Even if you thought, "ah-ha!" and ran out to buy the 12" single, you only got the 1988 Extended Remix and the 1988 Single Version. How can there be a special remix with no original version?

Well, the answer, of course, goes back to their pre-Jive Records days, when they first dropped "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" on Word Records, as far back as 1986. This is their first record... and the first pressing - the label subsequently changed their name to Word-Up Records for the second pressing and their subsequent releases. And while there's no difference, content-wise, between the initial two pressings of this single, both are quite different from what Jive put out.

First up on Side 1 is the Radio Mix. Right away, this has a much more raw, edgier feel than the Jive release. The beats are more stripped down and the bass is thumping much harder. The I Dream of Jeanie sample is still present, but the overall sound is still much more street than the version we all had on cassette as kids.

But what makes this even more street are the vocals. See, Jive didn't just polish the music a bit before they shot the video and put it out on their label... they made Prince redo the vocals to be kid friendly. In the popular version, when Prince meets Exotic Elaine, she "asks me did I like her. I said, 'well, kinda.'" But in the original she "asks me was I horny, I said yeah kinda."

In the remake, "she started grabbin' all over me, kissin' and huggin'. So I shoved her away and said, 'you better stop buggin'."

But in the original, "she started grabbin' all over me, kissin' and huggin'. I punched her in the chin and said, 'you better stop buggin'."

If that's not violent enough for you, the end of their encounter when he, "handed her my wallet and ran like Hell," originally had him react a bit more strongly... "I hit her with a trash can and ran like Hell!" He's also a bit more hostile about it all at the conclusion. On the Jive version, they stop his verse on so the cop character can radio in, "Yo Prince, we got him!" and he adds, "but it wasn't my fault!" But in the original, there is no walkie-talkie business, he just says, "but I didn't do nothin', it was that dumb broad's fault!"

Amusingly, Jive also felt the need to alter Prince's boxing preferences... at the start of the second verse, he originally says, "I was at the bar one Friday night, coolin', watchin' a Sugar Ray fight." But in the remake, he says, "Mike Tyson fight," instead. Perhaps this was the first step into the creation of their 1989 record, "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson?"

There's plenty of other changes, throughout... when he meets Sheila, there's a whole section that's excised completely where "she bought my drink, I thought that was polite. So I walked out with her; I said, 'what's up for tonight?' She said 'just get in the car,' so I obliged. About twenty minutes later we pulled up in her garage." Really, the whole song has changed in a myriad of ways, right down to "those Gucci bed sheets" becoming, "those Satin bed sheets." I guess Gucci references were too hip-hop for MTV? lol

However, since this is a Radio mix, Word Records did a bit of low-budget editing themselves, flipping the sound backwards when he says the word "horny." But fortunately, that's not the case when you come to side 2, the Def Mix. But the difference between the Radio and Def Mixes don't just boil down to a little clean-up. The Def Mix features constant scratching by Jazzy Jeff throughout the song. So this makes it the superior, definitive version in all aspects... it's uncut AND the music's fresher.

The original 12" also has instrumentals for both mixes (basically with and without scratching), and it's pretty much a must-have for anyone who appreciates these guys' stuff. But, still, the remix has a lot going for it, including tweaks to the music, a whole new verse where Betty makes him miss the Run DMC concert, and a strange summation by Jeff at the end, where he references their later records, which made it all the more confusing for suburban kids like me who were thinking, "but I thought Rock the House came out first!" Plus, frankly, while there is something gonzo and no-holds-barred about the image of Will Smith beating down a hooker in an alleyway with a trash can, the line "I handed her my wallet and ran like Hell" is just funnier. So you can't entirely rule out the remix... but you're definitely missing something if you've never heard the Def Mix.

The Megadope Jazzy Jeff

"The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff" is one of those cuts that's dope now, but you had to've been around in 1987 to really appreciate how impressive it was when DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince first dropped it. Actually, the rhymes are pretty simple... Smith is of course praising the DJ, but in a less playful, clever way than he we've come to expect from him, instead just providing a basic platform for Jeff to showcase his skills. The instrumental features unapologetically crashing drums, bashed cymbals, and the occasional classic old school sample as Jeff flexes. Sometimes he just gets nice on the hook, other times he cuts in samples to finish his partner's sentences (The Prince starts, "in a battle you cannot win, because my DJ will" and Jazzy Jeff rolls in a vocal sample from "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" to finish the sentence: "tear your butt limb from limb!") or does tricks ("make it sound like a bird... now make it chirp." And of course there's the unforgettable moment where "my DJ transformed into an Autobot" and he showcases the transformer scratch.

So this 12" doesn't offer much by way of non-album versions of "The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff"... there's just the regular and Instrumental versions. But there is a dope exclusive B-side.

A megadope exclusive B-side, to be exact. "The Megadope Mix" is a 10 minute mix of songs from their then forthcoming album, Rock the House. And this is really a pre-commercial Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. Any keyboards or samples and such that may've been featured in the original songs are cut out or at least mixed down in favor of playing up the thumping drums, handclaps and constant rhythm cuts. They even use the original, rawer version of "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble," as opposed to the 1988 Extended Mix that most audiences are familiar with today. You really get the sense that young Will Smith is just freestyling these raps to you, rather than it being a series of major label records being spun in a mix. Jeff even finishes with the least melodic moments from "A Touch of Jazz," but don't mistake that for a criticism. This mix is banging and even makes the cheesiest and most kid-friendly moments of their early catalog (I'm looking at you, "Just One of Those Days") palatable to a hardcore purist.

This is one record that's truly earned its place among as a classic crate staples. And because it was backed by a major label, it's in cheap, plentiful supply. It may not be as mind-blowing as it was in '87, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a head who won't still enjoy giving this a listen.

The Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff Transform Together

Now, you might be reading this title and thinking, "no shit, Werner. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were platinum superstars who recorded five albums and tons of hit singles and videos. Your title telling us they worked together is meant to come as some sort of surprise or news to somebody?" No, no. But stick with me here for a moment.

"A Touch of Jazz" was Jazzy Jeff's solo cut on their debut album, Rock the House (sometimes people confuse it as their second album... but that's because it was re-released in 1988 after the duo blew up). And it truly is jazzy, classy, smooth and probably the most important DJ record since "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash On the Wheels of Steel." Pop audiences may only remember the album for "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble;" but for the real heads, this was the stand-out track. There's some scratching, yes; but this is more about smooth blends of phat jazz loops, Marvin Gaye, soul mixed into a seamless rhythm. It's everything DJ Shadow's Entroducing was, only twice as def and a decade earlier!

And that classic (I may be guilty of overusing this word, but it applies here in the truest sense) album version is present on the 1987 12" single, but so is a lot more, starting with the "Extended Re-Touch." Now, at first this essentially plays out the same as the LP mix, except with a deep vocal sample declaring "A Touch of Jazz!" every so often, which I could just as easily do without. But a quick look at the label shows us that this version is over a minute and a half longer, and soon Jeff is blending in new records, with new sounds and scratches. Every aspect you loved from the original has been retained, and the new material fits in perfectly and the quality is still top notch.

Then we flip this record over to the B-side, and here's where the title comes into play. We get the "Collapsed In the Street Mix" (as well as a shorter "Collapsed In the Street Edit") that turns Jeff's instrumental masterpiece into a vocal track featuring The Fresh Prince. There's some new scratches, drums, etc... but obviously the inclusion of several rap verses is what stands out the most in this mix. Fortunately, there are still extended instrumental periods giving Jeff a chance to flex both his cuts (this time adding a lot of "Good Times" over the classic "Rapper's Delight" bassline) and his innovative blends... it doesn't follow the verse/hook/verse formula of the typical record, so it manages to keep the mood of the original pretty well intact. And The Prince doesn't try to distract with comical stories or battle rhymes, he just raps enthusiastically about the music:

"Making a record
Is similar to baking.
You need ingredients
If you plan on making
It come out correctly
And in a second,
I'm gonna give the recipe
We used on this record:
A quarter cup of rhymes
And a cup of beats,
A half cup of clubs
And dash in the streets;
A piece of the present
And a pinch of the past;
Throw in Jeff and the Prince
And a touch of jazz!"

The song winds up being almost 7 minutes long! And that's where this 12" really gets it right... with each increasingly different mix, they don't replace anything, they just keep adding onto what they have and building up. So they never sacrafice anything - the album version was less than half the length of this mix.

All that and a colorful picture cover? In this day of rarities going for record-breaking prices, it's nice to know that some of the crate digger's shiniest gems are still in plentiful abundance.

The Fresh Prince Meets Pop Rock

Remember in a recent post when I said The Fresh Prince only did one guest spot in his entire career? Well, apparently I lied. There were two... but can you blame me for neglecting an obscure Billy Ocean record?

Well, I can't forgive myself! In the name of completism, it must be blogged about!

Besides being doomed not to be a hit single by its title alone, "I Sleep Much Better (In Someone Else's Bed)" is a bit of a throw away tune recorded as the new song for Billy Ocean's 1989 Greatest Hits album to compel die-hard Ocean fans to buy a collection of songs they already owned. But fortunately for us, they did press it up as a single in the hopes that a few DJ's might promote it (when a pop star like Billy Ocean can't even be bothered to make it a picture cover, you know that's all it's for), so there's no need to buy the whole album for the one Fresh Prince appearance.

The first thing you'll notice is that it's a pretty simple, repetitive song (Protip: skip the seven minute Extended Version). The production (by Ocean regular Robert John Lange) is professional... certainly nothing as catchy as "Get Into My Car," but some passable pop studio loops. And the chorus is passable; but there's not much more to this ode to sleeping around than a few lines and the repeated chorus for the first three and a half minutes. Honestly, it feels unfinished - which might literally be the case. This could easily be a work-in-progress that Jive stumbled upon in one of their closets and threw onto the album.

Things pick up, though, when the rappers finally get involved at the end. That's right, despite The Fresh Prince being the only artist credited on the sticker cover, there's actually two MCs on this song, Smith and Mimi. They do a back and forth, line for line exchange, a la Positive K & MC Lyte (this came the year after "I Ain't Havin' It" so there's no doubt who inspired who): "FP: Come on, baby, these are girls I used to play with; but you're the lady I want to stay with. ... Mimi: Don't you understand it's hard to deal with this? You play me part time: hello then goodbye, while you run around town like some playboy - some fly guy?" It's kinda fun, certainly not great, but at least the rhymes are written by the Fresh Prince himself (Smith, but not this Mimi character, gets a writing credit).

The b-side also has a Version Without Rap for all those pop fans who screamed "oh my god, what are rappers doing on my nice Billy Ocean record!?" and an instrumental. Though it's not bad, if you're not a collector of all things Fresh Prince you can easily live without this. If you do want it, though; the good thing is it's available in dollar bins the world over. Snag it cheap and complete your collection; but you probably won't take it out again once you've filed it away.

The Fresh Prince Meets Jazz

"To other DJ's, Jeff is just too much - he doesn't use a line switch as a transformer crutch!"

Yeah, "The Groove (Jazzy's Groove)" is already one of the best, most understated DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince songs - certainly the best off of album #3. It's a hype beat with fun, clever rhymes by Smith hyping up his DJ:

"Look, it's simple;
Just admit it.
Jeff is the deffest;
You wanted to battle? Forget it!
You're a fool,
You're slippin', you're loony, you're crazy;
No if's, no and's,
It'll be just your butt, baby!"

And every hook or breakdown is Jeff using a showcasing his skills on the turntables in a different way. It's also an amusing answer record of sorts to Soul II Soul's "Jazzie's Groove" which was a big hit single at the time. ...But that's just the tip of the iceberg of what makes this second single so dope.

First, you've got the Extended Remix, which adds about a minute's length and features jazz great Grover Washington Jr.! About midway through the song, Smith adds a new verse about how they had trouble finishing the record and until Grover came in to save the day, and then Grover plays an incredible solo over the breakdown. Soon Grover is playing all over the track, and there's some additional keyboards and samples added as well. Jeff changes his final line from, "I made the beat hype, but still kinda smooth" to "I made the beat hype; Grover made it smooth." Finally, the A-side of is rounded out by the Radio version, which is just a shortened edit of the Extended version.

But that's still not the half, 'cause when you flip the record over, instead of "The Groove (Jazzy's Groove)," you have three mixes of "The Groove (Grover's Groove)." The beat starts out the same, with the added instrumentation of the Extended version, but Grover is playing from the first note. Basically, where the A-side was DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince song featuring Grover Washington Jr., this is a Grover Washington Jr. song that features them. The beat is mellowed out, dropping the drums and some other elements for most of the song. Smith starts kicking the verse he added to Extended Version on the A-side, but this is a fuller version, with more (and better) rhymes about working with Grover and music bringing together people from different walks of life. But it's just that verse; most of the song is Grover playing non-stop to the groove.

The B-side also has a Version Without Rap, which is pretty self-explanitory, totally removing The Fresh Prince from the equation. And finally there's a Radio Version - a tighter edit of the "Grover's Groove" mix. All this and a picture cover? And because it's not at all rare and people sleep on their later material, it can be easily found at super cheap prices. This belongs in your crates!

The Fresh Prince Meets Doo-Wop

Here's one that's probably for the hardcore collector's only, but it's kinda fun if you're willing to be seen walking out of the record store with this. "When the Radio Is On" is the single off of Paul Shaffer (yes, David Letterman's bandleader... that Paul Shaffer)'s debut album, Coast To Coast. It came out in 1989 and it's of interest because it features Ecstasy of Whodini and The Fresh Prince (who otherwise never dropped guest verses). The album was sort of a compilation, where Shaffer went around the world (or at least different parts of the US) and collaborated with all types of famous musicians; and because it was the 80's, of course his New York song had to be a rap song!

It's not that terrible, though, in a hodge-podge kind of way. It starts out like a doo-wop song, but Ecstasy quickly comes on to kick the first verse, and from then on it's a flat-out rap song with a sung chorus. The Fresh Prince rhymes second, and at first comes off as well as he was doing on his own records, but after a few lines the lyrics stop sounding like they were written by him (indeed, he doesn't get a writing credit; but then rappers often didn't get writing credit for their lyrics back in the 80's), when he says lines like, "my first romance, ooh we used to dance to the man with the blue suede shoes." So, a young Will Smith and his first girlfriend started out dancing to Carl Perkins is what you're asking us to believe? Perhaps that line was originally intended for Shaffer, who actually takes the final verse for himself. That he comes off as the weakest link should go without saying to anybody within a mile of this blog, especially since he shouts every single word of his verse, but at least he's energetic.

And the instrumental is listenable enough. It's co-produced by Whodini's producer Larry Smith, Shaffer of course (Smith and Shaffer both also play the keyboards here), and Russell Simmons. It's got a healthy dose of live instrumentation by genuinely talented musicians and vocalists like singer/songwriters Johnny Maestro, Jay Siegel, Dion, Carole King and Ellie Greenwich. And everyone just sounds so awfully damn enthusiastic singing about how much they enjoy listening to the radio.

Now, I'd actually been half-heartedly looking for this one for a while (not too hard, 'cause you know), but could never remember the title. I just remembered seeing this live on The David Letterman Show, when Paul Shaffer did a big production number to promote his new record (naturally), and it featured The Fresh Prince and Daddy-O of Stetsasonic. Daddy-O was performing because Ecstasy was unable to attend (I still remember Letterman joking that "Ecstasy is in agony"), and a couple of the other vocalists were swapped around, too. But I finally found this 12" in somebody's dollar stock (where it belongs), so I had to pick it up: "that's that's song!" Then, once I got it home and knew what the title was, I did an online search, and found the original Letterman clip is on Youtube (but minus the Ecstasy joke - I guess that came later in the episode).

Now, the 12" features five different mixes: The Big City Beat Mix, the Def & Dum Dub, The GoGo-A-GoGo Instrumental, Acappella and The Single. The one dubbed the single is the one from the album (I think it was also subtitled "The Single" there to showcase that it was, yaknow, the singlem which makes a little more sense). The Big City Beat Mix is an interesting alternative mix... it brings in some different musicians, most notably Jeff Lorber on keyboards (a lot of people with a lot of Grammys worked on this single!) , and goes for a less pop music-y vibe (though, of course, all variations of this song are inherently extremely poppy). The GoGo-A-GoGo instrumental is a bit different than the actual instrumentals to any of the other versions, but it's close to the Big City Beat Mix and features the same credits. The Acappella is self-explanatory.

Finally, there's the Def & Dum Dub, a version mixed by Larry Smith. Despite being called a dub version, it features full vocals; but most of the instruments are stripped away or turned into short sampled loops. This works to make it easily the most hip-hop sounding version of the song, though, in the case of a tune like this, I'm not sure if that's even preferable. Still, all told, the different mixes are varied enough that all five versions in a row hold together as an acceptable little listen when you're in the mood for something upbeat and goofy.

Nightmare On Elm Street raps, part 2

^Video blog!!
(Second video of all-original Halloween content on the new blog.)

Happy Halloween, everybody!