Parents Just Don't Understand

"Parents Just Don't Understand"
Single by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
from the album He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper
ReleasedFebruary 17, 1988
Recorded1987
StudioBattery Studios (London)
Genre
Length
  • 4:13 (Radio edit)
  • 5:35 (Album version)
LabelJive
Songwriter(s)Pete Harris, Will Smith, Jeffrey Townes
Producer(s)Harris, Smith, Townes, Bryan "Chuck" New
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince singles chronology
"Brand New Funk"
(1987)
"Parents Just Don't Understand"
(1988)
"A Nightmare on My Street"
(1988)
Audio sample
Music video
"Parents Just Don't Understand" on YouTube

"Parents Just Don't Understand" is the second single from American duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's second studio album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper (1988). In the song, the Fresh Prince details his problems with his parents, whom he feels do not understand the challenges of being a teenager.

The song was released as a single in spring 1988 by Jive and peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[1] It won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, one of the two songs to do so before the award was discontinued in 1991. The song was referenced several times in the television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and was ranked number 96 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". It was also featured in the movies The Parent Trap, Malibu's Most Wanted and Jersey Girl.

  1. ^ "DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince". allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 July 2021.