Boy, do we have a treat for horror fans on Halloween! First, we have to take a trip back to the late-‘80s and the height of “Nightmare on Elm Street” and Freddy Krueger fame. Everyone wanted a piece of Freddy Krueger, and that included the up-and-coming rap group of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, aka Jeffrey Townes and Will Smith, respectively. They created a hit song called “Nightmare on My Street” and even shot a video for the song. However, after a bitter legal battle, New Line squashed the plans for the music video and it was never released. Well, that is until now.
That’s right, 30 years after the original release date of the song, and just in time for Halloween, we present the previously unreleased “Nightmare on My Street” video featuring Will Smith. The song has been readily available for years and was a modest hit back in ’88. But now, you can see the full vision that DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith had in mind for their song.
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Unfortunately, Freddy doesn’t actually show up in the video, for some odd reason. However, in his place, we get what looks to be a monstrous version of Will Smith crossed with Frankenstein’s Monster. It’s slightly silly. Well, okay, it’s really silly. But either way, it’s fun to see Smith and Townes in their heyday making fun rap songs featuring slasher film icons.
And adding to the overall retro feel is the fact that whoever got their hands on this video, apparently got it on VHS, as the tracking is all over the place and the quality is subpar. That being said, it adds to the mystique and horror film vibe that the duo was going for, as a clear 4K version of the video would just show all the flaws and silliness.
So, check out the video below (as well as some BTS photos courtesy of MovieWeb) and travel back to a simpler time when rappers had nothing better to do than write about mainstream horror films.
