"Yo Home to Bel-Air", informally known as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme", is a song performed by

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of rapper Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and disc jockey Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff). Active full time from 1986 to 1994 and occasion ...

. It is the theme song to the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sitcom ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart t ...

''. Lyrics were composed by sitcom star

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

, performing under his stage name "The Fresh Prince", and the song was produced by

Jeffrey Townes Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...

under his stage name "

DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...

". Townes brought up the idea of him and Smith making the theme song after learning the music for the series (composed and produced by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

) were made and presented what would become the music for the theme song. Smith wrote the lyrics after reading up on the scripts from the pilot episode. Smith then presented the song to Jones and he immediately loved it and accepted it as the theme song. The song was released as a single in the Netherlands and Spain by

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

in 1992, with "

Parents Just Don't Understand "Parents Just Don't Understand" is the second single from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's second studio album, ''He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper''. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, one of the two song ...

" as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, and it was re-released in 2016 by the record label Enjoy the Ride. It became a hit in these countries, peaking at number three in the Netherlands and number two in Spain, and it received a Silver sales certification in the United Kingdom in February 2018. The song appeared on DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' album, along with a number of compilation albums.

Theme

Lyrically, the song is

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

, describing how its protagonist was "born and raised" in

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

, but after a violent encounter he was sent to live with family in

Bel Air, Los Angeles Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universit ...

. As one account maintains, the protagonist "raps about his mother sending him to live with his aunt and uncle because she was afraid that he would fall victim to istough West Philadelphia neighborhood".Jennifer A. Sandlin, Brian D. Schultz, Jake Burdick, ''Handbook of Public Pedagogy: Education and Learning Beyond Schooling'' (2010), p. 225. It has thus been described as an example of the tendency of rappers to "present pathological perspectives of their own communities". The song further "explains how a boy from the ghetto would end up living in Bel-Air", and thereby "ushers in a fantasy" of an implausible scenario in which a poor person escapes to wealth.Rinaldo Walcott, "'It's My Nature': The Discourse of Experience and Black Canadian Music", in Joan Nicks and Jeannette Sloniowski, eds., ''Slippery Pastimes: Reading the Popular in Canadian Culture'' (2002), p. 271.

Single track listing

7" vinyl

:A-side – "Yo Home to Bel-Air" (7" Radio Mix) – 3:23 :B-side – "

" – 5:12

12" vinyl

''A-side'' # "Yo Home to Bel Air" (Extended Version) – 5:18 # "Yo Home to Bel Air" (7" Radio Mix) – 3:23 ''B-side'' # "Yo Home to Bel Air" (Summertime Mix) – 5:25 # "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" – 2:57

CD single

# "Yo Home to Bel Air" (7" Radio Mix) – 3:23 # "Parents Just Don't Understand" – 5:18

Reception

The single was released exclusively in the Netherlands and Spain in 1992. In the former country, it spent 10 weeks on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

, peaking at number three. In Spain, it debuted at number two, its peak, and stayed in the top 20 for seven weeks. Although it was not released in the United Kingdom, the song earned a Silver sales certification from the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

in February 2018 for sales and streams of over 200,000. An article on the ''MTV.co.uk'' website stated about the song, "Say what you want, but considering the sitcom wrapped up over 20 years ago and people are still able to start spitting out those lyrics on cue, its lasting appeal is undeniably impressive." Tom Eames of ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'' ranked the song 3rd in a list of 25 sitcom theme songs. and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' readers ranked the song 6th out of a list of 10 television theme songs.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fresh Prince of Bel-Air The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Comedy television theme songs 1992 singles Songs written by Will Smith Songs written by Quincy Jones 1990 songs DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince songs Songs about Los Angeles Jive Records singles Songs written by DJ Jazzy Jeff