HIP-HOP
Will Smith, "Lost and Found" (Interscope)
Believe it or not, Smith has put out an album on which the best songs are neither bright, goofy nor happy. That would be the same Will Smith who since his start in hip-hop 18 years ago has personified bright ("Summertime"), goofy ("Parents Just Don't Understand"), happy ("The Two of Us") -- and, of course, jiggy. But apparently even he has gotten sick of that sugary-sweet goodness. So, perhaps for the first time on an entire album, he sounds like a person rather than a persona.
What courses through "Lost and Found" is a fire tempered only by Smith's self-imposed rule not to move beyond PG-13 in his rhymes. Still, there's no way syndicated radio siren Wendy Williams or Smith's ex-wife or even black radio could be within earshot of this CD and not be scorched.
"Maybe I should just have a shootout," he says on the especially good couplet "I Wish I Made That/Swagga."Just ignorant/ attacking/ acting rough/ I mean/ then/ will I be black enough?"
Smith does use obvious bits of Ludacris' hearty bellow ("Party Starter"), Jadakiss' "Why" ("Tell Me Why" with Mary J. Blige) and Eminem's "Stan" ("Loretta") to tell his stories. Nevertheless, they are all still Smith, who has taken blows for having the mainstream appeal to move from music to TV to film. Now he confidently delivers a few blows of his own.
Star Tribune