Page 25 - Will Smith: A Biography of a Rapper Turned Movie Star

He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper
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focusing on drugs and crime, Will and Jeff rapped about the
ups and downs of ordinary teen life—issues like dating,
going to the movies, and dealing with lame parents.
If the two were to work together as rappers, they needed
to have a catchy name. Jeff was fine as DJ Jazzy Jeff, but Will
wanted something edgier than Prince Charming. So he
dropped Charming and replaced it with a slang word that
was popular in the world of rap: fresh. According to Will: “At
the time the word Fresh was the word. It was street talk for
cool, the best.”1
So Jeff andWill became DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
They invited Will’s first rap partner, Clate Holmes, to join
them as the human beat box, just as he had done with Will.
In September 1984, Will began his junior year at
Overbrook. Academically, he managed to maintain adequate
grades. Socially, he continued to play the role of the goofy
but charming kid. Years later, he said: “I think the popular
terminology for what I was in high school was DORK.”2
In his last two years of high school, Will made money
working at parties with Townes. Will and Jeff, along with
Clarence, also spent many hours in Jeff ’s recording studio,
making demo tapes. When they felt they had created enough,
they once again went to see Dana Goodman at Word Up. This
time, the record producer was convinced that he had a winner
and signed them almost immediately to a recording contract.
Will, now a high school senior, was about to become a
professional music artist—but there was one big problem. His
parents had always dreamed that he would go to college.