Rakim Wants to Record ‘Summertime Pt. 2’ With Will Smith
Will Smith recently resurfaced a clip of him talking to the legendary Rakim about DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince‘s smash hit “Summertime.”
Last year, while backstage at CBS’ A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop, Smith admitted to Rakim that he was trying to sound like him on the record. “I was absolutely trying to sound like you on ‘Summertime,’” he confessed to the rap legend. “‘Cause I had been screaming all night, and I couldn’t get my ‘happy-go-lucky’ high voice. And then Hula just said, ‘Yo, just gimme that Rakim sh–.’”
In the clip, Will also told the story of how the song came about. The year was 1991 and he and Jeff were already putting the finishing touches on their fourth studio album Homebase when producers Hula and Fingers handed him a CD with a beat sampling Kool & the Gang‘s classic song “Summer Madness” as he was about to head to the airport. He liked the beat so much, he decided to return to the studio to record the song after his flight was delayed, and the rest is history. “Summertime” shot up the charts, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991; helped Homebase go platinum; and brought DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince their second Grammy, for best rap performance by a duo or group. The song can still be heard 33 years later wherever there’s summer.
It has long been speculated that the Paid in Full rapper ghost-wrote the song because of Smith’s cadence. However, Rakim dispelled those rumors in 2016, telling HipHopDX, “When they came out with it, a lot of people thought it was me because of the style he used. But it was one of those things where that was them. I didn’t write it. That was Will and Jeff.”
Rakim commented on the post saying he was down to record a sequel, saying, “Peace Will !! Keep rockin bro, it’s time for SUMMERTIME PT 2 wit me on it !!!! lol.”
Hopefully, that means we’ll get another video like the classic below.
Angel Diaz
Billboard
