Will Smith - Big Willie Style
|
Album FactsOriginal Album Release Date: November 25, 1997 Certified 10 X Platinum SinglesMen In Black Just Cruisin Miami One of the highest selling rap albums of all time.
|
 |
Tracklisting
- Intro
- Y'all Know
- Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
- Candy
- Chasing Forever
- Keith B Real I
- Don't Say Nothin'
- Miami
- Yes Yes Y'all
- I Loved You
- Keith B Real II
- It's All Good
- Just The Two Us
- Keith B Real III
- Big Willie Style
- Men In Black
Album Reviews
Wall of Sound
Will Smith: Big Willie Style
Columbia
Rap/Hip-Hop
Rating: 68
As an actor, Will Smith has saved the planet twice in the past two years, first as a fighter pilot in Independence Day and then as a man in black in, well, Men in Black . As a rapper, though, Smith's goals are much more modest. "Do you think that you make 'real rap music,' cuz I ain't never seen the Wu dancing with no singing alien," an interrogator asks Smith in the mock interview that opens Big Willie Style--making reference, of course, to the video the squeaky-clean rapper did with a cast of computerized aliens for his recent "Men in Black" theme song. Responds Smith: "I like to have a good time and have fun with the music that I make." In other words, instead of saving the hip-hop world--which, truthfully, could use it right about now--The Artist Formerly Known As Fresh Prince simply wants to get the party (slumber, that is) started right with booty-shaking bubblegum rap.
The unfortunately titled Big Willie Style is Smith's first album since 1993's Code Red, which was released when he was still known as the Fresh Prince and receiving second billing behind DJ Jazzy Jeff. And though this is officially Smith's solo debut, and it's largely produced by the Track Masters, Jazzy Jeff is onboard for several tracks, both as a producer and a DJ. Jeff's precise scratches open the album's up-tempo first single, "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," before Smith steps back into the spotlight with a mildly boastful rap in which he proves he's been paying attention to contemporary hip-hop by serving up a Notorious B.I.G.-ism ("You got a/ Prada/ Bag with a lotta/ Stuff in it . . . "). Unlike most nineties rappers, though, Smith does not fill the song with metaphors, nor does he tell much of a story (à la his own "Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble" or "Parents Just Don't Understand"). As such, the throwaway lyrics seem gratuitous atop the winning Track Masters soundscape, which rides a funky rhythm guitar. Likewise for many of the album's other entries, including "Miami" and "It's All Good," which succeed as sample-driven, club-ready pop tracks (the former grabs pieces of the Whispers' "And the Beat Goes On"; the latter Chic's "Good Times" and a bit of Kool and the Gang's"Celebration"), but they don't do much lyrically. In other words, Puff Daddy would be proud.
"Just the Two of Us," though, is a different story. Getting serious for once, Smith has turned what was originally a Bill Withers love song into a tender, highly personal tale about fatherhood. It's refreshing to hear such a mature, sensitive moment in a genre overrun by sophomoric and callous MCs. In "Candy," Smith overcomes a distractingly large Cameo sample to detail a love-at-first-sight obsession with a woman he nicknames "Candy." Much like his cereal-obsessed fellow rapper-actor LL Cool J before him, Smith then goes on to use the names of as many brands of candy as he can, saying: "I talked to Mary Jane and she said your ex-boyfriends Mike and Ike is both Lemonheads," and so on. Speaking of Cool J, the spare "Don't Say Nothin'" is not unlike something the other Mr. Smith might have recorded, as Will talks tough to his detractors in a voice that, initially, sounds like LL's. Of course, he only goes so far, avoiding the use of profanity in the song--and throughout the album--in deference to an audience that knows him as a spic-and-span big-screen hero.
He does manage a few cleverly clean retorts, though. On "Yes Yes Y'All," the superstar Smith blows off his detractors for good, noting that, "Player haters been hating on my playing for years/ Now they're seeing their worst fears as I'm bathed in cheers." With Smith aiming for the masses, Big Willie Style should bring him still more cheers, even if the lightweight lyrics that dominate the album don't necessarily bring him critical accolades or the respect of his musical peers. --Josh Freedom du Lac
All Up In It,
Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
by: tom reiter
I'm glad to see Mr. Will Smith, the former Fresh Prince, back
in the rap game, and on Big Willie Style, he proves he still
has it. Most of you have already heard his hits of the album,
especially with radio play Will gets. But there's still some
worthwhile songs other than "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It,"
"Just The Two Of Us," and "Men In Black,"
which have been tearin' up dance floors and makin' daddies'
hearts melt for a while now. One of these is the laidback
track, "Chasing Forever." This is a romantic song
about being able to spend forever with his wife. The back
up vocals sung by Kenny Greene and Trey Lorenz add the perfect
feel.
The next song, "Don't Say Nothin'," is a story of
his rap career, from how he started to now. Basically it's
sayin' most people can't stack up to him, hence the refrain
"ya'll don't say nothin, I won't." Musically it's
a really good track too. DJ Jazzy Jeff provides the scratching
in the background. "I Loved You" has a little harder
feel to it, especially compared to what you hear on the radio.
This is because it's about a girl leavin' da man lonely. You
can tell Will is enjoying life and having fun now on the track
"It's All Good." Hell, he should be, bein' a rap
star and a movie star should make ya feel like that. After
"Just The Two Of Us," the album finishes up with
"Big Willie Style," which features Left Eye (of
TLC), and then "Men In Black."
So, there are a few other good tracks on Will's return album.
The man is still talented, as he proves . But without his
dance floor hits, the rest album isn't quite strong enough,
so I can only give it three turntables and a mic out of five
Music-critic.com
BIG WILLIE STYLE - WILL SMITH
I grew up a huge fan of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, so it' probobly safe to say that I was anticipating the release of "Big Willie Style" as much as anyone. So with that in mind, I've gotta say I'm a bit dissapointed.
This is somewhat of a departure from anything Will Smith has done in the past, and it's become pretty clear that the Fresh Prince is dead.
So how does his incarnate, Will Smith do? This album is alright, but that's about it. Will can still rhyme, and the beats, for the most part, are smooth, but the album is pretty much forgetable.
There's nothing humourous like "Nightmare On My Street" or "Girl's Ain't Nothing But Trouble" -- stuff that made JJFP stand out among other rappers back in the day. Instead, Will Smith has taken his clean cut image, thrown in the Puff Daddy schtick (women, fame, cars, clothes, wine, money), and combined the two to put out this product.
The album is at it's best when Will is doing the Puff Daddy style thing, and yet at the same time, it's as passive and unmemorable as anything Combs puts out. To his credit, Will pulls a few tricks out of the bag every now and then (like the song "Just The Two Of Us", a tribute to his five year-old son), but that's where the album falls flat. He does, however, have a cool series of skits going with a charachter called Keith B-Real, which is the only real humour on the album, and Will uses it to succesfully address his critics.
Poke and Tone of Trackmasters do most of the producing, while Jeff Towens (AKA Jazzy Jeff) steps in for a couple of tracks. The sound of the album is kind of on a laid-back, west coast, funk tip. Alot of it sounds the same (lyrics and all), and as a result the album rarely has a low point, but rarely stands out amongst each other, either. In fact, it almost sounds like some of the stuff Camp Lo put out last year. Incidently, Camp Lo guests on this album, along with Left Eye, Larry Blackmon, and Cameo (yes, you read right: Cameo).
Among my favorites on the album so far are "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It", "Yes Yes Y'all", "Big Willie Style", and the Keith B-Real skits. The only low point has to be "Just The Two Of Us". And, by the way, in case you're not sick of it yet, "Men In Black" (the victim of mass overplay) is on there too.
All in all, it's an alright album, but I'd prefer any JJFP record to it. I'd give it a 6.5/10. Bottom line is: Will Smith now makes better movies than he does records.
www.eagleson.com
Eonline
Will Smith's first album since retiring
the "Fresh Prince" moniker is a wry celebration
of his media-maven status. It opens with one of several interludes
that feature comedian Jamie Foxx spoofing the whole player
scene and closes with the title cut from Smith's mega-movie
Men in Black. In between, Smith suavely saunters through a
friendly blend of rap, pop and R&B. The spare and assertive
"Don't Say Nothin'" is as gritty as the music gets,
and the bitter yearning of "I Loved You" is the
roughest emotional terrain that unfolds. Ultimately, "Big
Willie" is a welter-weight affair, but Smith's charisma
still hits home.
B-
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Will Smith wisely decided not to change his style too much on Big Willie Style, the first record he released since becoming a major movie star with appearances on Independence Day and Men in Black. Instead of trying to toughen his image, Smith continued with the friendly, humorous pop-rap that has been his trademark since He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. Of course, he gives the music a glossy modern sheen (ironically based on early-'80s funk) in order to prove that he's still hip - and it works. Sure, there's filler scattered all the way the through the album, but the best moments - the disco-thumping "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," the Larry Blackmon duet "Candy," the ballad "I Loved You" and the riotous "Men in Black" - rank among his best singles. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
