Customer Reviews

He's the DJ I'm the Rapper

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

 

 

I have always felt that Will Smith was an under-appreciated emcee since his inception in Hip Hop in the mid 1980's. He has been ridiculed for being corny, too commercialized, soft, weak, and unskilled. This is unfortunate because Will's success is not driven by stardom but rather his emceeing skills. This is made abundantly clear on "He's The DJ I'm The Rapper". He has a penchant for strong songwriting. All the songs on this album have verses that connects seamlessly with the hooks. Every verse on each song picks right up where the last one left off on. Aside from songwriting is Will's uncanny ability to play different characters in his songs like "Parents Just Don't Understand". His voice imitations brings a self-depreciating humor that injects a comical punch not found on many Hip Hop records. Songs like "Parents Just Don't Understand" helped to pave the way for Yo! MTV Raps so that fans could see their hardcore favorites. Back in 1988, the Grammy's and MTV wasn't showing much love to Rap artists and I feel Will Smith played a major part in changing all of that. His skills on this release are sharper than a ginsu. Check the title track. There's a reason why nobody wanted to beef with Mr. Smith back in the days. Aside from the emceeing, Jazzy Jeff shows why he is one of the baddest DJ's around. It's a frantic scratch attack on the one's and two's that serves as an added instrument over the beats. The beat boxing is also memorable, especially the mimicking of 'Donkey Kong' on "Human Video Game". Of all of the movies and records that Will Smith has made, this album is in my opinion his best work and should silence all of his critics who thinks that his career is driven by stardom and not his emceeing skills.

"He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper" was the very first rap album I ever bought as a kid. It's an absolute classic, loaded with outstanding tracks! If you don't believe me, check the [...] review (5 stars), or see the Source's list of 100 Best Rap Albums of all time (it's on there).

Not much needs to be said about how good the songs are, but there are other reviews giving it low ratings, because, yes, the CD is edited.

It's a similar case to another classic hip-hop album, "Sex Packets" by Digital Underground. "He's The DJ..." is a double LP and extended play cassette. But when it came time to release the CD, they couldn't fit it all on one CD. Hence, sadly, the decision was made to cut some of the songs to allow it to fit. Here's the difference:

"Nightmare on My Street" - This is the Single Version that was released on 7" vinyl and cassette single. It has alternate lyrics compared to the LP version and is not simply edited.

"As We Go" - shortened by about 30 seconds

"Parents Just Don't Understand" - This is the Single Version that was released on 7" vinyl and cassette single. It shortens the instrumental section between the 2nd and 3rd verse and fades a little earlier than the LP.

"Another Special Announcement" - This is the only song missing from the CD.

"D.J. on the Wheels" - shortened by about 50 seconds

"He's the D.J., I'm the Rapper" - shortened by about 1:15

"Hip Hop Dancer's Theme" - shortened by about 50 seconds

"Jazzy's in the House" - shortened by about 1:10

"Human Video Game" - shortened by about 1:30

All of the other songs are fully in tact. If you're used to hearing the LP or cassette, I completely understand your disappointment; however, the album is still very worthy of 5-stars even edited.

my version has nightmare and human vidoe which are some of m favorites 2...this is a classic old school cd

i was happy to find this CD, i hadn't heard it in years. it came a lot earlier than the estimated shipping time.

I bought this in tape form back in the day. Played it so much the words on the tape disappeared ... yeah, liked it that much! Now with the CD ... I'll play it as much. "Fresh Prince" and DJ Jazzy Jeff were/are a great combination!

Ahh, back to the 80's. Just like I remember JJ & FP. But CD sound quality is so much better than cassete. just wish all their stuff was on CD to replace worn out tapes - remember those?

Got this for my husband, but even found myself singing along to "Parent's Just Don't Understand." Great CD, great price!

This album is clearly my favorite of all of their albums. But did I miss something because when I bought the tape when I was younger, Nightmare On My Street & Human Video Game were longer and nothing was cut out. If someone has this on cd uncut and brand new for a reasonable price let me know.


Thank you!

Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince were just hard core back in the day. I had this album on vinyl and would recite all of the raps to my sports figurines like I was having a huge concert at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Prince said everything I wanted to say but I just didn't have the guts to say it. One time my dad got all mad because I wanted to stay up until ten on a Friday so I could watch Falcon Crest. I kind of smarted off and said that if I don't get to watch the show I will give him a beatdown like Clubber Lang got in Rocky 3. He sent me to my room with no snack! You know what I wanted to say? Parents just don't understand. I couldn't say something that hardcore to my parents and walk upright the next day.

We also had a lot of unattractive people on my street. I was super hot, so I figured that hot people should live around me and wear Girbaud Jeans like I did. On Halloween, I handed out cans of evaporated milk to kids and as the weird little goofs came to my door, Burns and I laughed at them. Burns even wrote keyboard ditties that made fun of their costumes like "Spiderman? More like dorkyman". As kid after kid came to our door and embarrassed themselves I just turned to Burns and said, "it's a nightmare on my street". Guess who said that first? The Fresh Prince.

You should get this CD because it takes you from below average to really close to average.