N°112 WILL SMITH - MEN IN BLACK

Willard Christopher Smith Jr., or Will Smith, or The Fresh Prince, … we all heard of him at a certain point in our lives. He’s been around for ages it seems and that’s kind of normal at 44 years of age. He started his career as a rapper with DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince but went solo after a while to pursue his own career. Will and Jazz first came up with the idea for the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bell Air; etching a Philly downtown boy into a wealthy Bel-Air family. Jazzy Jeff played the character of Jazz in that same sitcom before definitely parting from Will Smith.

Later Will would be asked to play feature roles in Men in Black, Hitch, Bad Boys, Hancock, Independence Day, …. (I won’t mention the terrible I-Robot) and for some of these movies he also made the theme song such as for Men In Black.

 

You could say that with the song Men In Black he opened both door for an acting career as a singing career. He released his second album called Big Willie Style right after the movie release. The album produced songs such as Getting’ Jiggy With It and Miami. Later he’d perform in Wild Wild West for which he also produced the theme song. This single was given a spot on a later album. His biggest acting effort he did was when he played Muhammed Ali in the movie Ali. As said earlier, more movies followed and music disappeared a little to the background until 2006. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Frech Prince got back together.

As a duo they came up with records as Parent’s  Just Don’t Understand and the fabulous nineties song Summertime. After the split up Will Smith kept performing and he always asked Jazz to be his live DJ on stage. Apparently a career move from Will Smith who knew he could reach the top quicker on his own. Around the year 2000 he released his third album Willenium with the song Will2K. He’d also release an only US album called Born To Reign. Right before joining Jazz again in 2006 a fifth studio album saw the light: Lost and Found.

And ‘found’ he did. He found a way to keep life interesting for him by starting to produce movies and to push his own kids towards the white screen. Two of his productions: Hancock and The Karate Kid. In the latest his son Jaden Smith performed the lead role. His daughter Willow Smith already starred with her dad in I Am Legend. I wonder when they will start making music?

Ok when searching for Willow Smith on the internet I just saw she already released a few singles in 2010. Well maybe I should include her into this lost too huh? What do you say? Oh and do I need to mention Danny Elfman worked on the Men In Black album? Didn't think so.