"Parents Just Don't Understand" is the second single from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince is a hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vocalist Will Smith met Jeff Townes while trying to make a name for himself in West Philadelphia's local hip hop scene. After joining forces with Clarence Holmes the team members became local celebrities...

's second studio album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper

He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper

He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper is the second studio album by hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.-Background:The original release of the album on Vinyl LP and Cassette lasts for more than 85 minutes...

. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance

The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance was an honor presented to recording artists at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989 and the 32nd Grammy Awards in 1990 and again from 2012 for quality rap performances...

 in 1989, one of only two songs to ever do so before the award was discontinued in 1991. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. The song was released as a single in spring 1988. The single was only released on Vinyl. The song was referenced several times in the television show The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...

. In the pilot

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

, where the main instrumental of the song is played. In the first series episode "Not With My Pig, You Don't," James Avery mentions to Will that "Sometimes, parents just don't understand." In both instances of the song being used, Will turns to the audience with a puzzled look on his face. The song was ranked #96 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, and the music video was featured in the 2003 film Malibu's Most Wanted

Malibu's Most Wanted

Malibu's Most Wanted is a 2003 comedic feature film written by and starring Jamie Kennedy and co-starring Taye Diggs, Anthony Anderson, and Regina Hall....

.

Tracklisting

7" Vinyl

1. "Parents Just Don't Understand" - 4:13
2. "Parents Just Don't Understand" (Instrumental) - 4:06

12" Vinyl

1. "Parents Just Don't Understand" (Danny D Mix) - 6:20
2. "Parents Just Don't Understand" (Original 7" Version) - 4:13
3. "Live At Union Square, November 1986" - 4:03

American 12" Vinyl

1. "Parents Just Don't Understand" (Extended Mix) - 5:27
2. "Parents Just Don't Understand" (Single Edit) - 4:13
3. "Parents Just Don't Understand" (Instrumental) - 4:06
4. "Live At Union Square, November 1986" - 4:03

Official Versions

• Original 7" Version - 4:13 (Found On The 12" Vinyl) sasha
• Instrumental - 4:06 (Found On The 7" Vinyl)
• Danny D Mix - 6:20 (Found On The 12" Vinyl)
• Extended Mix - 5:27 (Found On The 12" American Vinyl)
• Single Edit - 4:13 (Found On The 12" American Vinyl)

Cover versions

A cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of the song was sung by Lil' Romeo, 3LW

3LW

3LW was an American hip hop soul and R&B girl group that enjoyed a number of modest hits during the early 2000s. Its founding members were Naturi Naughton, Adrienne Bailon, and Kiely Williams. Jessica Benson later replaced Naughton after she left the group in 2002...

, and Nick Cannon

Nick Cannon

Nicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper, entrepreneur, record producer, radio, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent...

, which appears on the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (film)

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 computer-animated film based on a few three-minute animated shorts shown on Nickelodeon between the years 1999-2002, and a pilot in 1998. The film was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies with O Entertainment and DNA Productions...

soundtrack.

The song was used by a young Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...

 in a music video he made with Smith's future wife Jada Pinkett. Shakur and Pinkett had been attending the Baltimore School of Performing Arts

Baltimore School for the Arts

Baltimore School for the Arts is a public high school located in Baltimore, Maryland and is a part of its public school system. BSA offers concentrations in classical music, theater, dance, theater production and visual art...

. The song was covered by Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler

Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...

 in the second season premiere of Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC that focuses on Leslie Knope , a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the series debuted on April 9, 2009; it has run for three seasons and...

.