Smith, Will

WILL SMITH

Born: Willard Christopher Smith; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 25 September 1968

Genre: Rap, R&B

Best-selling album since 1990: Willennium (1999)

Hit songs since 1990: "Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It," "Wild Wild West"

As the "Fresh Prince" half of the popular duo D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will Smith brought a refreshing comic sensibility to rap of the late 1980s. In contrast to tougher-sounding rap acts such as Public Enemy and N.W.A., Smith and his recording partner Jeff Townes specialized in lyrically "clean" raps that explore the humorous side of adolescence. Smith recorded his first solo album in 1997, after establishing a successful career as an actor in Hollywood films and on television. On hits such as "Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It" and "Wild Wild West," he continued to promote the wholesome image for which he had become known. While often dismissed as a lightweight by fans of hard-core "gangsta" rap, Smith creates danceable music with an unwavering sense of groove, his rapping style dexterous and assured. By the early 2000s, Smith's high-profile work in films had eclipsed his recording career, although he continued to release successful albums.

Years with D.J. Jazzy Jeff

Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Smith met up-and-coming disc jockey Townes while rapping at a party in 1986. Soon the pair began performing together, becoming audience favorites on the local Philadelphia rap scene. After the duo was offered a recording contract with Jive Records in 1987, Smith turned down a university scholarship at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, deciding to make performing his full-time career. The next year, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince released their breakthrough album, He's the D.J., I'm the Rapper (1988). Featuring gentle, lighthearted hits such as "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Nightmare on My Street," the album countered critics who denounced rap music as sexist and violent. In 1991 the duo released its biggest hit, "Summertime," a breezy, nostalgic evocation of childhood summers in Philadelphia. Having begun his acting career the year before with a starring role in the hit television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Smith left the duo to focus on a burgeoning film career. After his performance as a charming con artist in the film Six Degrees of Separation (1993) received critical acclaim, Smith earned starring roles in the Hollywood hits Bad Boys (1995), Independence Day (1996), and Men in Black (1997).

Late 1990s Stardom

In 1997, having devoted the previous four years to acting, Smith released his debut solo album, Big Willie Style. Propelled by the funk-laden, rhythmic hit, "Getting' Jiggy Wit' It," the album advanced the audience-friendly style Smith had pioneered during his career with D.J. Jazzy Jeff. Bypassing the social commentary featured in the work of many of his rap and R&B contemporaries, Smith displays on Big Willie Style a simple desire to entertain. "Miami" qualifies as an infectious celebration of the Florida resort city, with lyrics repeated in English and Spanish, while "Candy" is an engaging duet with Larry Blackmon, leader of the 1980s funk band Cameo. While the album's tone is largely comic, "Just the Two of Us" is a sensitive and absorbing exploration of single fatherhood, dedicated to Smith's son with his first wife, actress Sheree Zampino: "If the world attacks, and you slide off track / Remember one fact, I got your back." Having divorced Zampino, Smith married actress Jada Pinkett in 1997.

In 1999, after starring in his first box-office failure, the western-adventure film Wild Wild West, Smith released a second solo album, Willennium. Borrowing the synthesizer riff from Stevie Wonder's 1976 song "I Wish," the hit "Wild Wild West" climbed to number one on the pop charts. Well constructed, with an intricate, danceable rhythm, the song represents Smith at his spirited best. "Will 2K" uses a sample from the Clash's 1982 hit "Rock the Casbah" to create a celebratory atmosphere, although some critics complained of the track's self-aggrandizing stance, a quality mirrored on the remainder of Willennium. Writing for noted Internet music magazine, Pop Matters, critic Cynthia Fuchs observes, "Nearly every track here extols the endless wonderfulness of being Will Smith." For all his self-important posturing, however, Smith exudes an affecting sweetness and likability, qualities that ensure his enduring appeal. As evidenced in a review of the album by influential English music magazine Q, even Smith's detractors note the easy accessibility of his music: "'Will 2K' even makes a Clash sample sound squeaky clean. Nevertheless, there's something beguiling about Smith's profanity-free style."

On the heels of his most acclaimed acting triumph, portraying boxing legend Muhammad Ali in the movie Ali (2001), Smith released Born to Reign in 2002. Although it lacks the catchy, radio-friendly hits of its predecessors, the album contains the enjoyable "1,000 Kisses," featuring vocals by Pinkett. Incorporating elements of Luther Vandross's 1981 hit, "Never Too Much," the song re-cements Smith's friendly persona. In addition to showcasing the talents of Pinkett, Smith allows his young son Jaden to babble extensively on the track. "Cool, calculating stuff," writes the U.K. newspaper The Guardian, "but annoyingly enjoyable." Other reviews were less kind, falling back on the familiar criticism of Smith's music as bland and ineffectual. Rolling Stone, for example, describes the album as "a nice try from a nice guy." By this point in Smith's career, however, recording had become secondary to his status as one of Hollywood's top leading men.

Beginning his career in the late 1980s as part of the successful rap team D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will Smith earned critical and popular respect as a film actor before releasing his first solo album in 1997. Famed for his convivial dance songs, Smith won fans with his family-friendly style that downplayed the aggressiveness of much contemporary rap and hip-hop.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Big Willie Style (Columbia, 1997); Willennium (Columbia, 1999); Born to Reign (Columbia, 2002). With D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince: He's the D.J., I'm the Rapper (Jive, 1988); Homebase (Jive, 1991).

SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY:

Six Degrees of Separation (1993); Bad Boys (1995); Independence Day (1996); Men in Black (1997); Ali (2001); Men in Black II (2002).

WEBSITE:

www.willsmith.com.

david freeland