Will Smith is known for many things – recently for the incident at the Oscars, but also for a period when he dominated the trend of rapping during movie end credits. His song from Men in Black even won a Grammy! While the film Wild Wild West wasn’t a huge success, its soundtrack sold incredibly well, largely due to Smith’s hit song. However, before his movie rap career took off, Will Smith first became famous as the Fresh Prince, and he and DJ Jazzy Jeff once had a frightening encounter with a famous horror villain from the 1980s.
Back in 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince released their second album, He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper, and it quickly became popular, largely due to the iconic song “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” Their next big hit, “A Nightmare on My Street,” told the story of a scary encounter Will Smith had with a frightening enemy he described as “burnt up like a weenie” and nicknamed “Fred.” Will Smith’s character survives, but Jazzy Jeff isn’t so fortunate. Despite its success – peaking at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 – the song nearly derailed their careers.
A Nightmare On My Street Was Made For A Freddy Krueger Movie
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince originally created “A Nightmare on My Street” hoping it would be featured in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. The song uses the iconic musical theme from the Elm Street films and includes several references to the series. It borrows a line from Freddy’s Revenge – “You’ve got the body, I’ve got the brains” – and nods to a scene from the first movie with “I’m your DJ Now, Princey!” Given the duo’s talent for catchy songs and strong rhythms, it was likely to be popular with fans of both their music and the horror franchise.
Despite being a strong track, the song “Are You Ready for Freddy” by the Fat Boys was surprisingly chosen over a version by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. The Fat Boys’ song features a lengthy introduction establishing one of the group members as Freddy Krueger’s nephew, with Robert Englund himself rapping and appearing as the iconic killer in the music video. While the song boasts a great bassline, beatboxing, and samples from the films, it wasn’t included on the official Nightmare on Elm Street soundtrack – only on the Fat Boys’ album Coming Back Hard Again. Ultimately, it didn’t achieve the same popularity as the version created by the Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff.
New Line Sued DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Despite New Line Cinema choosing the Fat Boys for a project, Jive Records – the label for DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – still tried to promote their own artists. When that failed, they decided to feature the song on the album He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper by the duo and create a music video. That’s when New Line Cinema’s legal team stepped in.
New Line accused Jive of copyright infringement and legally demanded they stop selling the album. They also wanted a court order to prevent the music video from airing on MTV. Jive argued the use was permissible under ‘fair use’ principles, but the judge disagreed, finding the song too closely resembled New Line’s original work and seemed intended to benefit from the movie’s marketing. Rather than continue the legal battle, Jive and its parent company, Zomba, reached a confidential settlement agreement with New Line to resolve the issue.
The music video and album copies of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s “A Nightmare on My Street” included disclaimers stating it wasn’t officially connected to the Nightmare on Elm Street films and wasn’t authorized by New Line Cinema. However, fans loved the song anyway. “A Nightmare on My Street” became a huge success, helping their album, He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper, reach triple platinum status and earn a spot on their greatest hits collection. Today, the song is a popular choice for Halloween playlists.
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2026-04-12 01:21