One of Hip-Hop’s longstanding curiosities surrounds DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s 1991 hit “Summertime.” The Homebase single landed the West Philadelphia duo their second Grammy Award, but it also marked a shift in tempo, style, and flow for the Hip-Hop vets.

For years, some have speculated that Rakim ghost-wrote the Jive Records single. However, in 2016, Rakim dismissed those notions entirely. “When they came out with it, a lot of people thought it was me because of the style he used,” Ra told HipHopDX at the time. He did, however, allude to a sonic resemblance. “But it was one of those things where that was them. I didn’t write it. That was [all DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince].” To make matters more complicated, that same year, Rakim’s former band-mate, Eric B., told Combat Jack, that Eric B. & Rakim were recording to the same Kool & The Gang-based track. “I remember I did a record in the studio and [other producers] went back, behind my back, and told Rakim, ‘Yo Ra’, that record is soft. You shouldn’t do it.’ The record turned out [to be done] by Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, it turned out to be ‘Summertime.’ That’s the record I did. The engineer went up and played it for them.” Despite Eric’s claims, the platinum song is credited as a Hula and K. Fingers production.

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