View source for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song

{{short description|1992 single by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Yo Home to Bel-Air
| cover         = File:Cover_from_the_7"_vinyl_single_"Yo_Home_To_Bel-Air".jpg
| alt           =
| caption       = Artwork for Dutch and German releases
| type          = single
| artist        = [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince]]
| album         = [[Greatest Hits (DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince album)|Greatest Hits]]
| released      = {{Start date|1992|9|21}}
| recorded      = 1990
| studio        =
| genre         = [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]]
| length        = {{Duration|m=2|s=58}}
| label         = [[Jive Records|Jive]]
| writer        = [[Will Smith|Willard Smith]], [[DJ Jazzy Jeff |Jeffrey Townes]]
| producer      = [[DJ Jazzy Jeff]]
| prev_title    = The Things That U Do
| prev_year     = 1992
| next_title    = I Wanna Rock
| next_year     = 1992
}}
"'''Yo Home to Bel-Air'''", alternately titled as "'''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (Theme)'''" or merely "'''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'''",<ref>{{cite web|title=The Fresh Prince of Bel Air |website=[[AllMusic]]|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-mt0006070317 }}</ref><ref name=d40/> is a song by [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince]] first heard in 1990 as the theme song to the [[NBC]] sitcom ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]''.<ref name="atlantic">{{cite web|last1=Bodenner|first1=Chris|title=Track of the Day: 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/10/track-of-the-day-the-fresh-prince-of-bel-air/503738/|website=The Atlantic|date=October 11, 2016 |access-date=March 9, 2017}}</ref>  Lyrics were composed by rapper and sitcom star [[Will Smith]], performing under his stage name the Fresh Prince, and the song was produced by [[Jeffrey Townes]] under his stage name [[DJ Jazzy Jeff]].<ref name="d100" />
Townes brought up the idea of him and Smith making the theme after composer and producer [[Quincy Jones]] pitched an early version of the music. Smith wrote the lyrics after reading up on the scripts from the pilot episode.<ref>{{Citation|title=Rap Radar: Will Smith|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaBGMlDde1E|language=en|access-date=2021-12-02}}</ref> 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]] in 1992, with "[[Parents Just Don't Understand]]" as its [[B-side]],<ref name=d100/> and it was re-released in 2016 by the record label Enjoy the Ride.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yo Home to Bel Air/Parents Just Don't Understand – DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince {{!}} Releases {{!}} AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/yo-home-to-bel-air-parents-just-dont-understand-mw0002950957/releases|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 9, 2017}}</ref> 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 (DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince album)|Greatest Hits]]'' album, along with a number of compilation albums.<ref name="allmusic-2">{{cite web|title=AllMusic {{!}} Record Reviews, Streaming Songs, Genres & Bands|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/the-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-mt0006070317|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 10, 2017}}</ref>
Unlike the version in the sitcom, it samples George Benson's Give Me The Night and Kool and the Gang's N.T.
By:Yeyo
==Theme==
Lyrically, the song is [[storytelling]] [[narrative]],<ref>Jeremy Orlebar, Jonathan Bignell, ''The Television Handbook'' (2007), p. 90.</ref> describing how its protagonist was "born and raised" in [[West Philadelphia]], but after a violent encounter he was sent to live with family in [[Bel Air, Los Angeles]]. 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 [his] tough West Philadelphia neighborhood".<ref name="Pedagogy">Jennifer A. Sandlin, Brian D. Schultz, Jake Burdick, ''Handbook of Public Pedagogy: Education and Learning Beyond Schooling'' (2010), p. 225.</ref> It has thus been described as an example of the tendency of rappers to "present pathological perspectives of their own communities".<ref name="Pedagogy"/> 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.<ref>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.</ref>
==Single track listing==
===7" vinyl===
:A-side – "Yo Home to Bel-Air" (7" Radio Mix) – 3:23
:B-side – "[[Parents Just Don't Understand]]" – 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]], peaking at number three.<ref name=d40/> In Spain, it debuted at number two, its peak, and stayed in the top 20 for seven weeks.<ref name=spa/> Although it was not released in the United Kingdom, the song earned a Silver sales certification from the [[British Phonographic Industry]] in February 2018 for sales and streams of over 200,000.<ref name=ukcert/>
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."<ref name="mtv-fp">{{cite web|title=What You Missed In Music: Sky Axes Controversial Michael Jackson Comedy, Ed Sheeran Covers Fresh Prince|url=https://www.mtv.co.uk/news/kr3cao/sky-axes-michael-jackson-comedy-ed-sheeran-fresh-prince|website=MTV.co.uk|access-date=March 9, 2017|language=en}}</ref> Tom Eames of ''[[Digital Spy]]'' ranked the song 3rd in a list of 25 sitcom theme songs.<ref name="DigSpy">{{cite web|last1=Eames|first1=Tom|title=Ranking the top 25 TV sitcom themes EVER|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/feature/a810053/ranking-the-top-25-tv-sitcom-theme-tunes-of-all-time-friends-the-fresh-prince-big-bang-theory-and-more/|website=Digital Spy|access-date=March 9, 2017|language=en|date=October 5, 2016}}</ref> and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' readers ranked the song 6th out of a list of 10 television theme songs.<ref name="rollingstone-2">{{cite magazine|title=Readers Poll: The Best TV Theme Songs|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-best-television-theme-songs-20110921/10-golden-girls-thank-you-for-being-a-friend-0648856|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=March 9, 2017}}</ref>
==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1992–1994)
!Peak<br>position
|-
{{singlechart|Dutch40|3|year=1992|week=47|rowheader=true|access-date=February 17, 2020|refname=d40}}
|-
{{singlechart|Dutch100|4|artist=DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince|song=Yo Home to Bel-Air|rowheader=true|access-date=February 17, 2020|refname=d100}}
|-
!scope="row"|Spain ([[Productores de Música de España|AFYVE]])<ref name=spa>{{cite book|last=Salaverri|first=Fernando|title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002|edition=1st|date=September 2005|publisher=Fundación Autor-SGAE|location=Spain|isbn=84-8048-639-2}}</ref>
|2
|}
{{col-2}}
===Year-end charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1992)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.top40.nl/bijzondere-lijsten/top-100-jaaroverzichten/1992|title=Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1992|publisher=Dutch Top 40|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref>
|34
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1992&cat=s|title=Jaaroverzichten – Single 1992|publisher=[[Dutch Charts|MegaCharts]]|language=nl|access-date=February 17, 2020}}</ref>
|82
|}
{{col-end}}
==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Dj Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince|title=The Fresh Prince of Bel Air|award=Gold|relyear=1992|certyear=2024|id=14809-3818-1|access-date=May 24, 2024|refname=ukcert}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
*{{YouTube|AVbQo3IOC_A|Full version}}
{{The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air}}
{{DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresh Prince of Bel-Air}}
[[Category:The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]
[[Category:Comedy television theme songs]]
[[Category:1992 singles]]
[[Category:Songs written by Will Smith]]
[[Category:Songs written by Quincy Jones]]
[[Category:1990 songs]]
[[Category:DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince songs]]
[[Category:Songs about Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Jive Records singles]]
[[Category:Songs written by DJ Jazzy Jeff]]
[[Category:Songs about Philadelphia]]