“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. The single was released on vinyl and audio 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.

The original track as included on the original LP and cassette pressings of the album He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper ran 6:09. However, the entire album could not fit onto compact discs of the time, so for the CD release, many tracks were shortened; the single version “A Nightmare on My Street” was used in place of the original. This version is not simply an edit of the original album cut, as it included different lyrics in certain sections. The version included on DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s Greatest Hits album is not the original single version. Although it is labeled “Single Edit” and runs the same length, it is simply an edited version of the original recording and does not include the different lyrics recorded for the single.

SIDE A:

A Nightmare On My Street (Extended Mix) 6:13

A Nightmare On My Street (Single Edit) 4:53

SIDE B:

A Nightmare On My Street (Instrumental) 6:13

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