Wow, were the audience members and viewers of BBC's Graham Norton Show in for a treat this weekend. Could a performance be both planned and impromptu? Because Will & Jaden broke away from the interview with the English host to first rap as a father/son duo (no big deal, my dad and I do that all the time). But then, Will reveals DJ Jazzy Jeff at the turntables and proceeds to perform "Summertime". And if the Fresh Prince nostalgia wasn't already at a high, cue Tom Jones, cue Carlton himself: Alfonso Ribiero. After he shows he hasn't missed a beat with the Carlton dance, Carlton, Will, Jaden, and Graham all form a line to conclude on the "Tanto (Jump On It)" dance. Thoroughouly entertaining and well-executed by all parties involved. Fresh Prince fans, this is a must see!
UPDATE: Since we're in the Old School Sundays spirit above, here's some more fresh Fresh Prince for ya today, courtesy of this 1989 freestyle on Tim Westwood's show in London. Wow, crazy to see them both so many years ago. Plus, the old school flow and rhymes are accompanied by the story of meeting DJ Jazzy Jeff. This video is, yup, you guessed it — another must-see.
In a new interview with Montreality, DJ Jazzy Jeff shed some new light on the interactions between Will Smith and Eminem from 15 years ago. Here are some quotables from Jazz:
"I was a big fan of Eminem's—you know, especially of his super early stuff. I just kinda reached out to him, 'Yo man, big fan. Would love to do some stuff.' And he ended up comin' to Philly and we went in the studio, and just knocked out some stuff. It was crazy, because that was one of the times that Will [Smith] was in town. Will walked into the room, and I think I played Will 'Just The Two Of Us.'" The 1997 song would appear on The Slim Shady EP, believed to be interpolating the Will Smith Big Willie Style song of the same name. "Will listened to it, and Will looked at him and said, 'You're either gonna be the biggest flop in Hip Hop, or you're gonna be the biggest thing that we've ever seen in Hip Hop. And [Eminem] never forgot that."
As for Eminem's "f*** you" to Will Smith on "Real Slim Shady":
That kinda stuff, he just brushes off. The funny thing was, I ended up deejaying at an Em show in Detroit. And when I went in there, he kinda came to me and was like, 'Yo man, when I said that stuff about Will, he wasn't mad?' I said, 'Nah, he doesn't care about that stuff.' [Eminem added], 'That was just me stickin' up for [Dr.] Dre and that point in time (referring to Will Smith's Grammy speech, with Dre present, about no need for profanity in hip hop and a slight at the gangsta rap genre.
Wow, how on point was Will Smith? Crazy to imagine the two superstars in the studio together at that point in their careers 15 years ago. Plus, where is this 'stuff' that Eminem & DJ Jazzy Jeff did? Would love to hear that released some day.
Proceed to watch the rest of the in-depth interview for more Will Smith talk from Jazz, including the possibility of new music, favorite "Fresh Prince" memories, and more fun facts on Jazz himself. Fun interview inspiring a lot of "What if's?"!
LRG and Complex come together for DJ Jazzy Jeff's 1 Hour stream titled Life Colors. And yes you read that correctly, a stream in like that it's a 1 track mixtape thats an hour long of total freshness. Take a quick listen and download above!
