Customer Reviews

Code Red

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was hella lucky to find this, and got it at a hella nice used price. Needless to say, I got more than I paid for. This was Jazzy Jeff and FP's last full-length together. I'm assuming that this album was also a little different than their previous four.
Like many of the reviewers here have stated, you haven't lived until you've heard "I'm Looking For The One (To Be With Me)," which is undoubtedly the best cut from the cd. It's one of the smoothest songs I've ever heard, and invokes much nostalgia of similar early-90s music. In fact, JJ & FP freak a whole mess of smooth cuts throughout the album. The other ones are old-school homages. Pete Rock even produces a couple joints on here, so that should make your decision right there to check this out.
My other favorite song here is "Scream," which is precisely old-school and way too fun. Shouting along with that song in the car helped liven my mood a day after a rough breakup! Songs like this remind you that music doesn't have to be so complex to be memorable. A lot of timeless oldies are so because they were easy to sing along with or understand. A lot of these artists today seem to overlook this fact. "Shadow Dreams" is another great smooth cut, where the Prince details one of his personal philosophies on life without being preachy. "Something Like Dis" is a zany kickoff, while "I Wanna Rock" takes you to the very earliest days of Hip Hop.
Fresh Prince humbles himself on the standout, "Twinkle Twinkle (I'm Not A Star)," and I liked how Jazzy contributed to the chorus. "I Can't Wait To Be With You" is a solid romantic cut, and a rare collaboration between Rap and a deep-voiced R&B singer (Christopher Williams). "Boom (Shake The Room)" can get a little corny, but it's still fun and I like the newfound style that the Prince utilizes. "Code Red" is a claustrophobic bug-out moment, where Prince tells a story over a crazy beat. This story is much more mature than his past ones, and I like it. "Just Kickin' It" is smooth as I remember, but the one I can least recall, while the following "Ain't No Place Like Home" is a potential favorite. It gets a little sappy at the end, but overall it's message is 'to not take time with your family for granted'...not to often you get these messages in Hip Hop.
Overall, not a bonafide 5 star album, but possibly a dark-horse candidate for their best album together? "Code Red" definitely shows how they've evolved. Fresh Prince shows how you can kick the basics without having to be insulting or degrading. And his rapping represents the basics, not simplistic though, there's a big difference. At times, he flows at warp speed just for the fun of it, and shows how skilled of an MC he really is (contrary to uninformed opinions). The whole album is an exercise in old-school Hip Hop and smoothness, to say the least. Take this one, along with Will's newest "Lost and Found," and you have hours-on-end entertainment.

This has got to be one of the most underrated hip-hop albums of all-time let alone in 1993. Around the early 90s, a new era of rap called "Gangsta Rap" began to take place. However, DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince continued to make music as they were against the gangsta rap music.

Code Red is JJ & FP's is by far their best album. The opening track "Somethin' Like Dis" is a track in which the old-school meets the new-school. "I'm Looking for the One(to be with me)" is not only my fav. song but a great song to listen to when hanging with people. "Twinkle Twinkle(I'm not A Star)" explains that even though Fresh Prince is a big rapper/actor, he is still the same person. "Shadow Dreams" features inspiring lyrics about never to give up your dreams and to keep aiming for them. "I Wanna Rock" is an old-school song in which JJ & FP take it back with DJ Jazzy Jeff just tearin' up the turntables. You also can't forget the 1993 hit "Boom! Shake the Room" which is an enery filled track full of adrenaline. That will definatly get a party going. The rest of Code Red is outstanding. A must for hip-hop fans who aren't brain-washed by today's mainstream trash. 5 stars!

Well, if you always thought of Will Smith as a soft, non-swearing momma's boy, this album will change your mind. I like rap without all the cussing, and I'm a fan of smooth oldschool style. This album brings out a few of his only "smooth rap" songs that he's ever done. If you've heard "Big Willie Style" and "Willenium" and preferred Doc Dre after you heard them, this may be the album for you. I just wanted to say that there was a review that said Will and Jazzy Jeff couldn't do hip-hop. Whoever said that obviously is deffffff!

Question: What is the difference between Fresh Prince and Will Smith(rapper wise)? Answer: Fresh Prince was hip hop and Will Smith is hip pop. Fresh Prince had a style worth talking about while Will Smith's style is unabashedly cheesy. I know I have gained a lot of unhelpful votes for saying that but it has to be said. And now for the review......

Code Red was Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince last studio album together and shows we fell in love with Fresh Prince in the first place. He was the master at making nice party jams and it shows in tracks likes Boom! Shake The Room, I Wanna Rock, Scream and Somethin Like Dis. Im' Looking For The One(To Be With Me) was and still is the jam(even though Teddy Riley was on it--Im sorry but every MC that has made a track with him hasnt been the same ever since). Will gets nostalgic on No Place Like Home and I've always preferred the street version of Boom Shake The Room over the original.

In closing this album was the last time Will Smith was hip hop. The production was tight and Fresh Prince's flow was on point. This album is perfect for anybody that genuinely loves fun hip hop that they can kick back and listen too or something they can put on at a cookout. Code Red delivers big time.

Standouts: SOMETHIN LIKE DIS, I'M LOOKING FOR THE ONE(TO BE WITH ME), BOOM! SHAKE THE ROOM(original and remix), SCREAM, JUST KICKING IT, CODE RED, NO PLACE LIKE HOME, and TWINKLE TWINKLE(I'M NOT A STAR).

This album was the last from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince before their greatest hits disc five years later... Simply a tight album, it mixed the old with the new...

Real sound and good rap music mixed with some jazz bits makes dis a tight album y'all. If you like Will Smith's music dis is a must buy album for you. So whatcha waitin' fo'?

Code Red is by far the best JJFP album; the duo truly went out with a bang. Every track has a great summertime feel to it and is great to blast when you are going down the street in either a car or with a boom box. You can easily listen to all the tracks and press play again to hear the tracks all over again.

This is their best album!!

This was my first DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince album. It's quite different from their older albums, like He's the DJ, Rock the House, And in this corner because there's less of the funny and silly stuff. The best tracks here are Somethin' Like Dis, I Wanna Rock, Twinkle Twinkle, and Scream. Actually, at first I didn't like Somethin' Like Dis and found it really loud and annoying, but I grew to like it as will you. overall good album.

A much more adult and mature cd then there past others, the track Boom! (Shake The Room) is a perfect farewell to their legions of fans. However I must say it is a good enough track that it should be on their greatest hits. Its popularity as a club smash made it the third rap cd to reach number 1 in the UK next to Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby and MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This (both of which were made popular off of sampling other artists instrumentals). If you are a Will Smith or Fresh Prince fan this is a must to own.

Okay, I'm going to get this out of the way right now. Anybody who says that this disc is "hardcore" is lying. If they say it, they've probably only heard "Boom! Shake the Room" which all he does is yell in, which gives the allusion of hardcore rap. But this is definitely not the case. It's a more mature record, without songs with titles like "The Girlie Had a Mustache."

All right, since that's out of the way, here we go. Code Red is the last album from Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince before they broke up. And I would have to say that it is pretty good, but not their best. They rely too much on the smooth rap songs that were the popular songs of the day. (In case you don't know, that's 1993) I'm not saying that that is a bad thing, but it's used too much here for a Fresh Prince album.

This record is probably their third best disc behind He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper and Homebase. You could maybe switch positions with Number 4 And in this Corner... because it's rather a dumb CD. Dumb in the sense that it has titles like "Then She Bit Me" which is just plain stupid. (In case you're wondering, Rock the House is Number 5 in the album ranks.)

Here's the Top Five tracks on Code Red:

1. I'm Looking (For the One to Be With Me)
2. Somethin' Like Dis
3. Twinkle, Twinkle, I'm Not a Star
4. Shadow Dreams
5. Can't Wait To Be With You

Although this isn't their best CD, this is still worth getting if you're a fan of rap. If you're just a fan of the Prince, maybe not.