THE GOOD NEWS:
The album is fun. Will doesn't take himself very seriously, and this album was an all-around pleasant surprise. Will just seems "honest" here, and he doesn't have too bad of a flow, either.

THE BAD NEWS:
This is as commericial as a rap album can get (that "Keepin it Real" title was sarcasm, if you didn't catch that). The lyrics aren't really saying much, and almost every song rips off a past hit.

It's Valentine's Day. . . The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and. . . *sigh* I'm totally alone. . . Oh, well, at least I've still got music. Of couse, when I'm reviewing Will Smith's new album, that might not be much to speak of. . . . . . . I'm sorry, the album really isn't that bad, but I'm just a little depressed because of some recent occurences. Anyway, as far as my reviews are going, I've changed my mind and decided to write the Wu-Tang Forever review (in some form or another). Besides that, not much is new since, um, yesterday.

On to Big Willie Style. Now, you all know who Will Smith is. Even if you're not a fan of rap music, you've seen him in Independence Day and Men In Black (as well as others). He starred in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" for several years, and, before all of that, he was a very popular rapper. The Fresh Prince of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will made up one-half of a duo that released five albums, won several Grammies, and sold millions. Although I was never a big fan of them, they were an all-around fun group that didn't take themselves too seriously (I did think "Parents Just Don't Understand" was a great little song). But after 1993's Code Red, the guys broke up and Will went on to an acting career. After playing parts in films such as Six Degrees of Seperation and Bad Boys, he finally hit the real big-time with his role as a fighter-pilot in the massively successful Independence Day. He then went on to be one of the most popular actors in the country, and then finally went back to Rap with the theme song to the movie Men In Black. Of course, the song was a huge hit, and a few months later a complete album by Will was released. My friend, who is a big fan of Will Smith, the actor, but doesn't know anything whatsoever about Hip-Hop, ended up buying this album, Big Willie Style.

As one may expect, this album definitely leans way towards the commercial, pop side of Hip-Hop that has been popular lately with the success of artists such as Puff Daddy. But does that mean that it isn't worth checking out? Not at all.

Big Willie Style begins with "Intro" (it seems like every album I review begins with a track called "Intro"). Here, the Artist Formerly Known as Fresh Prince is attending some sort of album premier party, and runs into fictional arch-nemesis Keith B-Real (no relation to B-Real of Cypress Hill) of "Keep It Real" Magazine.

" 'Will, let me ask you something, do you think you make quote, unquote, real rap music?
   Cuz I ain't never seen the Wu dance with no singing alien.' "

Keith shows up quite a few times throughout the album, and it's overall a good poke at all the "underground" Hip-Hop heads (myself included) who get really turned off when something is really commercial. . . It's sorta cool that Will actually realizes that a lot of people think he's a total sell-out (it seems a lot of rappers don't even have a clue that they've lost all credibility) and makes something funny out of it. . . I just had to laugh.

The first real track on the album is "Y'All Know," a decent little cut that shows off Will's braggadocio.

	   "Observe the high roller
	    Mic controller
	    Number one Hip-Hop sun
	    Call me solar"

The lyrics aren't anything that'll make you shake your head and say damn, but they're above most of the Hip-POP fare that everyone's into nowadays.

The next song, featuring that oh-so-popular word that's popping up everywhere, "Jiggy," is "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," the current release off of Big Willie Style. I'm pretty sure you've heard this one already, so you probably have a pretty good idea of the song. It's blatantly commercial, but still a fun little song (although that "Na na na na na na na" gets annoying by the end).

"On your mark, ready, set, let's go
 Dance floor pro, I know you know
 I go psycho when my new joint hit
 Just can't sit, gotta get jiggy wit it"

	"No love for the haters, the haters
	 Mad cuz I got floor seats at the Lakers
	 See me on the fifty yard line with the Raiders
	 Met Ali, he told me I'm the greatest"

Again, the lyrics are pretty goofy, but they get the job done and are just fun.

"Candy" (featuring Larry Blackman and Cameo) is up next. This one samples the same track as some song by Tupac ("All About You," I believe, although I haven't listened to it in quite some time) and therefore had a bit of a familiar sound to me.

		    "Excuse me Miss, can we chat for a second
	  	     I'd ask how you doin, but you fine, I reckon
		     Wait, do you have a man, cause I ain't into home wreckin
	     	     No? Aight, cool, just checkin"

"Chasing Forever," a love song of sorts, is up next. I guess I should point out that the Nasir Jones credited for writing this song (as well as one other song on the album) is the one and only Nasty Nas (or Nas "Escobar," or whatever he goes by nowadays). Now, I really can't stand the mafioso stuff Nas is doing now with The Firm and all that, but the guy can write some REALLY nice lyrics. That makes it obvious, at least to me, that the couple of tracks he co-wrote here would have the strongest lyrics on the album.

	 "Early mornin' wake up
	  Gently with the caress on your hand
	  And that Kimono that I bought you on my trip to Japan"

		 "Chasin forever, a buckwild, endeavorous scene
		  Should we pursue with somethin real or just chasin a dream
		  Or casin the scene 'fore I die I plan
		  To see your soul and eternity in the palm of my hands"

	    		      "Now you would think after all my heartbreaks I'd be cruel
			       Hiding behind my ego, evil but no
			       Much the contrary, I'm very much certain
			       You searchin for joy, it's on the other side of hurtin"

Next, we have another interlude, this one titled "Keith B-Real I." Here, Keith approaches Jada Pinkett (Will Smith's fiancee, if you didn't know). He ends up getting slapped for a not-so-nice comment he makes. . .

The next track, and, in my opinion, the best on the album, is "Don't Say Nothin'." This one is dissing all of the "haters" out there that think Will Smith's music isn't "real rap."

"My face be seen in almost every country
 Grammy Winner soon to be Oscar Nominee" 

		   "Thought I was wack cuz I wanted to act
		    Now every brother and his mother that rap be trying to do that"

			                 "I know y'all still feel me really don't act silly
					  Thought I fell off just becuase I left Philly
					  Took a break from the rap thing went on hiatus
					  I picked up the art of acting and multiplied papers
					  I chilled on silk sofas chatting with Oprah
					  She asked me if it's true that me and Jeff broke up
					  While y'all kids were busy playing drug pimp and playa
					  I was at my crib in Barbados chillin' with Jada"

Plus, it has a pretty fonke bass line.

							"No more Mr. Nice Guy
							 My whole life I've been smiling 
							 When I felt like wilding
							 jealousy swinging on me made his attack
						         
							 'He soft, he wack, man that ain't real rap'
						         
							 You believe that?
							 It hurt me at first, but it's cool
						  	 Took the insults, feed it to my ego for fuel"

			          "And they be screaming out, 'Oh my lord'
			           Did you see it's that brother from ID4"

	   "Go ahead adjust the balance and the bass in your speakers
	    Make sure my voice sounding crisp in your tweeters"

While I thought "Don't Say Nothin'" was a dope cut, I wasn't too keen on "Miami." This one is just too pop for me.

   				         "Every different nation, Spanish, Hatian, Indian, Jamaican
			                  Black, White, Cuban, and Asian"

It is sorta cool how Will's saying "I'm Going to Miami" (shades of LL Cool J's "Going Back to Cali"). It can't save the song, though.

				    "Don't get me wrong, Chi-Town got it goin on
				     And New York is the city that we know don't sleep
				     And we all know that L.A. and Philly stay jiggy
				     But on the sneak, Miami bringin heat for real"

"Yes, Yes Y'All" features one of my favorite new major label Hip-Hop acts, Camp Lo. Actually, it really only features Sonny Cheeba from Camp Lo, and, unfortunately, we don't get to hear his unorthodox flow (which would've added a little more interest to this album) because all he does is say "And you don't stop. . . and you don't quit," during the chorus and shout out "Trackmasters" and "Big Willie" every once in a while. . . oh, well. The song is actually pretty decent though, as Nas co-wrote its lyrics.

  "One of the only emcees to say cheese with Swarzenegger"

	  "Verse two
	   Bout to slay you worse than the first verse
	   Packin my purse but, yo, without one curse" 

      "I pledge allegiance to the soul of the game
       Stepped away as Fresh Prince came back with my real name"

Next to bat is "I Loved You," a somewhat personal song about Will's former wife/girlfriend/lover/whoever.

	       "Cupid shot me in my heart, but damn, why'd you leave it bleedin?"

Will. . . I know how you feel, man. . .

	              "The birds of a feather supposed to fly together
		       Guess that don't apply to birds of your kind
		       Cuz you only wanted what you wanted like a poacher
		       Came to steal my heart and then leave me to die"

A little comic relief comes in with the reappearance of Keith B-Real in "Keith B-Real III." Here, Keith is accusing Will of "flaunting DJ Jazzy Jeff for the cameras" so he doesn't "look like some big time bourgey Hollywood sell-out, like you really are."

Unfortunately, Will has another dud with "It's All Good." Here, "Good Times" by Chic is used as the backbone to the track. . . not a good idea. When I hear someone rapping over "Good Times," it better be "Rapper's Delight". . . anything else just sounds stupid. Seriously. Will actually manages to pull off a couple of nice lines here, though.

"Mom, your wish came true, I got one just like me"

      "Ask yourself, who made the polar caps melt?
       FP, the phenomenon, true Don Juan, John Blaze
       The Fonz ain't seen my Happy Days"

	      "Y'all talkin East and West, I'm talkin hemispheres"

Now, one of the things I liked about this album was that it was so personal, but "Just The Two Of Us" almost seems a little TOO sentimental. . . It's a song about Will's son, and it could be seen as "touching". . . it was just a little too much for me, though. I think that background music was what did it. The lyrics still are sweet, though. . .

        "Sometimes I wonder, what you gonna be
         A General, a Doctor, maybe a emcee"

  "It didn't work out with me an your mom
   But yo, push come to shove 
   You was conceived in love
   So if the world attacks, and you slide off track
   Remember one fact, I got your back"

Keith shows up again in the interlude "Keith B-Real III." This one isn't really all that funny. . . Keith apologizes to Will and then approaches him with an idea for a barber shop/rap studio. Oh, well. . .

"Big Willie Style" features Left Eye from TLC. The track isn't very great, and the lyrics are pretty so-so.

                "From civllians to stars they wanna know who we are
	         It's me Big Will, Nas Escobar, J.L. Omar"

I never really knew that Will Smith and Nas were such good buddies. Anyway, this is the only track that actually features a guest-rapper rapping. Left Eye doesn't really impress, but hearing someone else rap does make things a little more interesting.

           "Got you in the palm with a bomb like Sadamm
	    Blowing up spots then runnin off with the pots"

The final song on Big Willie Style is "Men In Black." Now, unless you're some sort of anti-technology anarchist that has spent the last year in a small log cabin in the middle of Montana sending mail-bombs to people, I KNOW you've heard this. It's the theme song to the mega-hit movie, and what can I say? It's pop as pop can be, but it's still kickin. The lyrics are pretty much about the situation of the movie, and they're really not bad at all. I'll type out a few for all of you (like you don't already have them all memorized already. . .).

"The good guys dress in black remember that
 Just in case we ever face to face and make contact
 The title held by me, M.I.B.
 Means what you think you saw, you did not see"

                 "Do what we say that's the way we kick it
		  Yanahmean?  I see my noisy cricket get wicked on ya
		  We're your first, last and only line of defense
		  Against the worst scum of the universe
		  So don't fear us, cheer us
		  If you ever get near us, don't jeer us, we're the fearless"

	   "Aight check it, let me tell you this in closin
	    I know we might seem imposin
	    But trust me, if we ever show in your section
	    Believe me, it's for your own protection
	    Cuz we see things that you need not see 
	    And we be places that you need not be
	    So go witcha life, forget that Roswell crap
	    Show love to the black suit, cuz that's the Men In. . ."

So, Big Willie Style draws to a close. . . what can I say? When I first heard my friend bought the album, my comments were how I'd react to anyone that bought an album by one of these knew pop-rapper types. . . "damn, that's wack, why the hell are you buying that kind of sh*t? Don't you know they're destroying Hip-Hop?" I guess I probably sounded a little like Keith B-Real. But, after listening to it, I've gotta say that the album is NOT wack. It's as commercial of a Rap album that has ever been released, but still manages to entertain me. You might think this might be reminiscent of all of the Puff-fluff that's ruling the airwaves and album charts nowadays. . . and, well, to a degree, it is. But the former Fresh Prince, unlike "emcees" such as Puffy and Mase, can actually RAP. Will Smith may not be the best rapper in the world, but he certainly isn't the worst, either. Sure, his lyrics are rarely impressive, but the cat does have a nice flow going on. There's also some humor in here, as well, which definitely adds to the album.

But what really seperates this album from most of the playa/pimp/mafia trash out nowadays is how Will Smith is just being true to himself. It's an honest, sensitive, personal album. Really. I could almost compare it to Common's latest in that aspect (although I would have a hard time trying to justify a comparison of this to a masterpiece like One Day It'll All Make Sense). By listening to the album, you can tell that Will, as goofy, cocky, and "sold out" as he may be, is a genuinely good guy that just wants to make fun music. How can you criticize anyone for that? If you do. . . I'm afraid you might be a "playa hater." (damn, did I really just say that?)

As for the bad side, this is commercial rap at its most commercial. Most of the lyrics are far from clever, as quite a few of them are just Will bragging about how rich he happens to be. Of course, unlike hearing someone that claims to be a millionaire but really doesn't own much at all (see: hmmmm, just about any popular rapper these days, aside from the occasional Puff Daddy or Dr. Dre, who really do have the dough they brag about), you know that Will really is living the "good life" (I guess that sorta adds to the honesty of this album that I was talking about, in a weird sort of way. . .) Almost every background track makes use of a blatant sample from a past hit, often a past hit that has already been sampled a million times. That's just unexceptable. I've never liked the Trackmasters' radio-friendly style (see It Was Written by Nas, The Firm's album, Foxy Brown, etc.), and this certainly didn't change my mind about them at all. Overexposure to this album will likely give the typical Hip-Hop head a tooth-ache, as it is pure bubble-gum pop at its most sugary. A few of these tracks are just painful (like "Miami and "It's All Good"). It is NOT a great album by anyone's standards, and definitely won't be considered a classic anytime down the road. It is, however, a fun, accessible little album that will probably sell millions. I personally wouldn't buy it, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from purchasing it, either. . . quite simply, if you don't mind the new brand of commercial Hip-POP that's around now, there's a good chance you'll really like this album. If you're an underground head that can't stand commercial rap, period, this probably won't do much for you, but then again, you may end up enjoying it, more or less, just as I did. "Men In Black" got you open, right? There's a few other tracks on here that'll do the same thing. Not to mention that you get to hear Will say "Jiggy" about a million times.

---Steve Clark

Did I get it wrong? E-mail me at stevec@netnitco.net with all comments or questions you may have.

Go back to GHETTO MUSIC.