Who Rocks The Party That Rocks The Party? (Rock The House - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Rock The House - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
Date:	30/09/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bangers througout

Disadvantages: Nothing specific

"Rock The House" came in 1987 and was the debut album for DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. It is important to note that, in spite of the name, a third member Ready Rock C existed within the set, but from the off-set Will Smith (as The Fresh Prince) knew he'd only be a temporary role and so left him uncredited as the beatboxer to the group before he left for good in 1990. It was the breakthrough release from the funky crew and saw the Philly lot act as the final wave of positive, light-hearted rappers from the late eighties before it become more serious and Gangsta Rap was introduced and so they carried on the legacy of the Fat Boys, Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew and others with their overall style being like theirs, but with an innovative DJ and very strong lyricist to make i fit in with the new trends.

1. "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble"

This was, by far the most popular track on the release and a great one to kick the album off with as you find that you have them hype the thing up with a fresh jam with The Fresh prince taking the lead and letting all the guys no how getting into relationships is nothing but trouble for them as Jazzy Jeff comes up with a mix of the theme from "I Dream of Janine" and the funky drum roll from Funkadelic's "You'll Like It Too".

**Five Stars**

2. "Just One Of Those Days"

They are seen to move things on with what is the longest track on the album and they come out with a hardcore tune that gets them performing with production that is seen to be very current for the time with the heavy drum machine heard making a massive impactful sound on the thing to enable the rapper to come out with some of his freshest rhymes as he tales a Slick Rick-like story, but here based on a bad day at school.

**Four Stars**

3. "Rock The House"

The titular track tot he album is amongst the best on the whole thing and one that you just can't get over once you here the quality of it as you find that their beatboxer Ready Rock C makes his first appearance on the album and comes through strong with heavy beats which uses breaks such as "The Big Beat" and other popular ones from the time as a sort of "La-Di-Da-Di" joint to take from Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew.

**Five Stars**

4. "Taking It To The Top"

In another one that you can't listen to with out things for Doug E. Fresh's posse, you get a tune that has them getting into a fly groove and having the Fresh Prince coming out with some funky rhymes as he shows just how well he is able to work the mic(rophone) and switch up his approach to fit in with the jumpy production that you have Jazzy Jeff cutting behind him. It is another big one and keeps the quality levels high.

**Five Stars**

5. "Magnificent Jazzy Jeff"

They move into one of the other singles to the album, and in this case it wasn't as popular as here you get a track that is really designed to show the Turntablist skills of the DJ (which when they are billed as a Pop Rap acts, their mainstream listeners won't appreciate the creativity of it all) as he lays down a heavy cut with a variety of tracks from many periods, all of which add to the things as the MC continues with the flows.

**Five Stars**

6. "Just Rockin'"

The heavy beats come back through with this one as we turns back to the much more typical material and you find that once again the influences in the music are very clear and in this case The Fresh Prince chooses to go in the Run-D.M.C style and he does very well with their in-your-face mode as they lay down a heavy jam session. You get a little more from Ready Rock C here and it just makes their fresh music more raw.

**Five Stars**

7. "Guys Ain't Nothing But Trouble"

Returning back to the lead single from the album (and the first track on the record) you get a track that is a straight killer of a joint as the female rapper Ice Cream Tee responds to that one as a representative of the other side of the argument on the same groove. It is a well-constructed one and sees her rip it, with a few extra lines from The Fresh Prince and even DJ Jazzy Jeff to set it up like a Slick Rick tune, but with the people actually taking on their own roles, rather than one man providing it all.

**Five Stars**

8. "A Touch of Jazz"

This was the final single from the album and it is one that finds them going hard with it as they come up with a raw jam that is solely about DJ Jazzy Jeff's live Turntablist skills and has no vocals whatsoever (something that has completely phased out of mainstream Hip Hop releases since the early nineties). It is nice inclusion to the thing and set things up nicely for later ones where The Fresh prince would freestyle over such sets.

**Five Stars**

9. "Don't Even Try It"

On the final proper track on the album you find that you get a tune that seems to round things off nicely as it brings in all of the main elements that made the album so heavy and has The Fresh Prince coming out with some killer rhymes that take on the format that bridged the Old School years with the sounds that would allow Hip Hop to establish itself as a proper genre (and not o still be looked upon as a fad genre by the late eighties).

**Five Stars**

10. "Special Announcement" (Outro)

This is a very strong release and it came during one of the most influential times for Hip Hop as it was within the year when the likes of Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim and Boogie Down Productions all made their debuts and this stands as another classic (but one that went relatively unnoticed in comparison.

Summary: DJ jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's debut album