Summertime

The American hip-hop group DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince wrote the song Summertime. As the first single from their fourth studio album, Homebase, it was made available in May 1991. The song was created by Chicago-based producers Hula and K. Fingers, and at the 1992 Grammy Awards it was recognized as the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent a week at number one on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart (their highest charting single on the latter). It also became the first single by the duo to climb at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

The Homebase album's producers delivered Will Smith the tape for Summertime as he was leaving Chicago after finishing the recordings for the tracks they had created in Chicago. Smith chose to record the song in Chicago after his trip back to his own country was delayed, so he wrote the entire song in one sitting. He recorded his song in a lower tone than normal since his voice was tired from a prior night out, unintentionally creating a style reminiscent to rapper Rakim, whom Smith recognized as one of his favorite rappers at the time. The ascending F# octaves played on an ARP 2600 synthesizer in "Summer Madness" by Kool & the Gang are a prominent example of the song's instrumentation sampling.

Artists: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Released: May 20, 1991
Genre: Hip hop, R&B