A Nightmare on My Street
| "A Nightmare on My Street" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince | ||||
| from the album He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper | ||||
| Released | August 1, 1988 | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Horrorcore, pop rap | |||
| Length | 6:09 (LP/cassette copies of album) 4:53 (45 length/CD copies of album) | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Will Smith, Jeffrey Townes, Pete Harris | |||
| Producer(s) | Smith, Townes, Bryan "Chuck" New, Harris | |||
| DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "A Nightmare on My Street" on YouTube | ||||
"A Nightmare on My Street" is the third single from DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's second studio album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. The song became a crossover hit in the US, reaching #15 on the Hot 100. The song was released as a single in early 1988 on vinyl and cassette tape. The song humorously describes an encounter with the horror film villain Freddy Krueger and was considered for inclusion in the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, but the producers of the film decided against its inclusion.
New Line Cinema, copyright holders of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise, sued DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's record label for copyright infringement, forcing the label to destroy a music video produced for the song (though a copy of the video did survive and is available online). Both sides eventually settled out of court, but as a result, vinyl pressings of the album He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper contain a disclaimer sticker that says, "[This song] is not part of the soundtrack...and is not authorized, licensed, or affiliated with the Nightmare on Elm Street films." The song samples Charles Bernstein's musical motif from A Nightmare on Elm Street.