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DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince to reunite for a hip-hop anniversary special

The legendary duo will be joined by Black Thought, Quest Love, Common, De La Soul, and other notable hip-hop acts

Actor Will Smith and DJ Jeffrey Townes of DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince pose at the afterparty for the premiere of Columbia Pictures' "Seven Pounds" at the Armand Hammer Museum on December 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/TNS)
Actor Will Smith and DJ Jeffrey Townes of DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince pose at the afterparty for the premiere of Columbia Pictures' "Seven Pounds" at the Armand Hammer Museum on December 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/TNS)Read moreKevin Winter / MCT

Legendary duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince will reunite on stage to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop. It will be Will Smith’s first major public appearance since his infamous slap of comedian Chris Rock at the 94th annual Academy Awards back in March 2022. Later that night, the actor won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in King Richard.

The Recording Academy and CBS announced on Wednesday the Grammy-winning duo will perform during “A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop,” a concert special honoring the genre. The special will be taped on Nov. 8 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

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The group will be joined by Big Daddy Kane, Common, De La Soul, DJ Quik, Rakim, Black Thought, and Questlove of The Roots, Three 6 Mafia, and a myriad of other legendary hip-hop acts.

The special will be broadcast at 8:30-10:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 on the CBS Television Network. Viewers can stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.

Tickets to the live concert taping are available on ticketmaster.com. Single tickets start at $75.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince made music history as the first hip-hop act to capture a Grammy award. A year later, they became the first rap act to perform at the annual celebration.

There wasn’t a category dedicated to rap music until 1988, which was presented on Feb. 22, 1989. The duo won the Best Rap Performance award for “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” but they weren’t invited to perform on the show that year. The move led to a genre-wide boycott of the music event.

On Feb. 21, 1990, the group scored another historical feat by becoming the first hip-hop act to perform on the Grammy stage. They later went on to win another Grammy award for the classic hit, “Summertime,” two years later.