DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s single “Summertime” is being adapted into a musical. Produced by K. Fingers, Lamar “Hula” Mahone, and Roland Edison, the fly 1991 single from the duo’s album Homebase was a smash with music listeners for its jazzy, hip hop vibe that sampled “Summer Madness” by Kool & the Gang. Now, thirty years later, the song will be turned into a hip hop musical penned by Peter Saji of Black-ish fame.
In the music video for “Summertime,” the Fresh Prince, aka Will Smith, enjoys the clear, blue skies of the summer while enjoying a refreshing drink and what appears to be a family reunion. Whether or not the same theme will be portrayed in the musical has yet to be revealed.
The feature film will be produced by Smith’s Westbrook Studios and John Davis’ Davis Entertainment, according to Deadline.
The platinum-certified single was No. 1 on both the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs and U.S. Hot Rap Songs Billboard charts. The song won the duo a Grammy for “Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group” in 1992 as they competed against heavyweights Salt-N-Pepa, Naughty By Nature, Public Enemy, and Heavy D & the Boyz.
However, the two longtime friends skipped the awards as they did in 1989 when they became the first rap artists to win a Grammy for their single “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” The year marked an infamous boycott of the Grammys led by Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, along with Def Jam record label execs Lyor Cohen and Russell Simmons, due to the award show refusing to televise the rap award. The boycott garnered a lot of publicity and the following year the rap category was televised.
