MaxFly

Man, the day has come. For Lost & Found, I want to Walmart to get the CD at midnight.  I wish I had that kind of experience this time, but I had to settle for buying it/downloading it at midnight.  I bought the regular version and the edited version. I drove around earlier today blasting the music on a super sunny 65 degree day. It was heaven.
1. Int. Barbershop - Day - I love this sound. More of this.  I like the banter on this track and that Will specifically voices the characters who are critical of him. The back and for with Jeff is so welcomed. It brings the energy of the JJ+FP albums. B. Simone is a welcome addition to them. 
2. You Lookin' For Me - Man, this is the Fresh Prince I love to hear. Especially those opening lines that borrow from Slick Rick. I love the lyrics and subject matter. The choir on the backup vocals sweeten up the kinda dark-sounding beat. 
3. The Reverend (Rave Sermon) - I'll say this about all of the interludes. I like the encouragement and the gems he shares. It makes me wonder if they would be better coming from Will straight, instead of through the reverend character. With albums, I tend to get tired of interludes after the first few listens. 
4. Rave In The Wasteland - Man, i love this beat and the energy. The subject matter is good, too. 
5. Bulletproof - I like the energy and lyrics on this one, too, but I think the production is leaning average.  Jac Ross has a great voice for this. 
6. Hard Times (Smile) - Man, I love this one I must say, I slept on Teyana, but this song makes me want to check out her music.  The slick, classic Hip-Hop meets R&B sound is my favorite. I like FP's relaxed flow and vocal presence. I'm so into this beat and the smoothed out chorus that I haven't really unpacked the lyrics yet.  
7. Beautiful Scars - I love the production on this. I like the changes in his flow throughout it. Admittedly, I'm not a Big Sean fan. I always though his voice and presence was weak and his lyrics un relatable. I like him a little more on this compared to anything else I've every heard him on. I would have preferred to hear someone else on the track who is more on Will's level.  No offense, to Omar, but I don't the auto tune chorus. I'd put someone like Usher on the chorus to upgrade it. 
8. Tantrum - I'm not saying it's bad, but this is my least favorite song. It's just kind of repetitive.  The beat is about as standard as you can get.  Will holds it down. I'm not crazy about Joyner's voice.  Why is Will kicking Joyner Lucas' butt on his own sound? 
9. First Love - I like the artistic move with this one. I don't think it gets enough credit.  However, I think it definitely takes down the pace of the album. I feel like it would serve better as a single or as a song oen one of the collaborating artists' albums.
10. Make It Look Easy - This is a really nice one. I love the sound and vibe. Like "Hard Times (Smile)", I think FP is the most comfortable on this sound. I guarantee this will be pumping through my car speakers all summer long. 
11. The Reverent (YCMI) - I nice message to lead into "You Can Make It".
12. You Can Make It - This is a highlight. Heck, it crossed over to be a hit on gospel charts. Will is emotionally raw on the song. Fridayy complements it well and hearing Sunday Service literally gives me goose bumps.  If this is the only real hit off the album, that's good enough. 
13. Work of Art - The beat is modern, but dope.  The lyrics sum up this era for Will. Jaden's feature is authentic and not forced. I know nothing about Russ, but his makes a mark on this. 
14. The Reverend (WOA Sermon) A nice send off for the album.
Overall I'm really happy with this album. I think it was weird that we heard so many singles off it before we got the whole thing. It made the listening experience kind of weird compared to having only heard a song or two. I feel like the songs that weren't released as singles are the glue of the album. Most of them are my favorites. 
I think my critiques are the sequence of songs. I feel like "Work of Art" should have been one of the first songs and that "You Can Make It" should have been the last song. I think the sound and production is kind of all over the place, which prevents it from feeling a completely cohesive album. I feel like I'll listen to some of these songs A LOT and some I'll only listen to when I'm in the mood to hear them. I haven't felt that about his previous albums.
I gotta be honest, Will cussin' in his songs still sits with me funny. I'm sure 99% of the time I'll be listening to the edited version of the album.
I really hope this album gets some shine.  It's a reminder that the Fresh Prince is a legit emcee and musician. This is good music....good Hip-Hop.

So far from the older ones Tantrum and Beautiful scars are my favorite. From the new ones Bulletproof and surprisingly, Make it look easy, are the ones I'm enjoying the most. The Rave on the wasteland one is growing on me but is so weird to hear Will rapping on it like that. Hard times and first love I'm not feeling too much.

Been listening to it all day. Some of the songs that I didn't like much the first time are growing on me. I like the different styles and I like that he tried new things.

I am so happy with this album, it’s exceeded my expectations, been playing it all day.
 
The barbershop intro is the perfect start, that stuff needed to be said and it’s great to see Jeff on there. I’m enjoying “you looking for me”, it’s a middle of the road track for me.
”Rave in the wasteland” was a huge shock for me, seeing the title, it looked a little odd but when that beat started it was crazy. Sounds so different from anything he’s done, his flow is insane. Possibly my fave of the new, unreleased ones. 
 
Love “bulletproof” I think I heard it a while back when he did it live and I’ve been waiting to hear it properly. Definitely one of the better tracks of the album.
“Hard times” is great, I love RnB so the female vocalist sounds great to me. Only negative was Will wasn’t quite featured enough on it, but musically it’s beautiful.
Been playing “beautiful scars” lots the last few weeks, one of my top tracks of the album.
“Tantrum” has been out a while, I’ve seen most people love this one, I like it but it’s lower down on my list of tracks. Maybe I’ve overplayed it waiting on this album haha.
“First love” is my least favourite, the vocalist just isn’t my style and Wills flow just isn’t as good. I don’t dislike it so much but it’s just nowhere near as good as the rest of the album. Don’t know why they chose to release it.
Really like “make it look easy”, it’s grown on me a lot throughout the day. It’s almost like big Willie style vibes. Such a nice, chill, fun song.
I’ve always really liked “you can make it”. It came out when I was coming to the end of a tough couple of years, so it’s a special song to me.
I’ve always really enjoyed “work of art” too. Being the second song out made me realise we were gonna get some great music out of Will after 20 years.
Overall, love it. I think it’s perfect to come out with music like this after recent years. I’m ok with the swearing, he’s no longer got his squeaky clean image so he may as well haha. I’m hoping the next chapter/album has more fun, upbeat songs. But as the first one back, it’s just right.
 

Great to some of the old heads returning to the forum! 
Make It Look easy is also really catchy! 

I really like this album! Sheesh... I really like this album! Props to Will and those with whom he collaborated. I'm certainly going to have a lot more to say and there will be quite a bit to discuss, but I feel like these lyrics from "You Lookin' For Me" encapsulate the last few years, the album, and his career really well.
 
I've been on my grind for a very long time.
I've been on your mind for a very long time.
Yeah, you got your life, but your life ain't like mine.
Looking for me? You can find me where the light shine.
Where the light shine...

I really like this album! Sheesh... I really like this album! Props to Will and those with whom he collaborated. I'm certainly going to have a lot more to say and there will be quite a bit to discuss, but I feel like these lyrics from "You Lookin' For Me" encapsulate the last few years, the album, and his career really well.
 
I've been on my grind for a very long time.
I've been on your mind for a very long time.
Yeah, you got your life, but your life ain't like mine.
Looking for me? You can find me where the light shine.
Where the light shine...

I really like this album! Sheesh... I really like this album! Props to Will and those with whom he collaborated. I'm certainly going to have a lot more to say and there will be quite a bit to discuss, but I feel like these lyrics from "You Lookin' For Me" encapsulate the last few years, the album, and his career really well.
 
I've been on my grind for a very long time.
I've been on your mind for a very long time.
Yeah, you got your life, but your life ain't like mine.
Looking for me? You can find me where the light shine.
Where the light shine...

I really like this album! Sheesh... I really like this album! Props to Will and those with whom he collaborated. I'm certainly going to have a lot more to say and there will be quite a bit to discuss, but I feel like these lyrics from "You Lookin' For Me" encapsulate the last few years, the album, and his career really well.
 
I've been on my grind for a very long time.
I've been on your mind for a very long time.
Yeah, you got your life, but your life ain't like mine.
Looking for me? You can find me where the light shine.
Where the light shine...

https://www.superthrowbackparty.net/2025/03/will-smith-honored-with-philly-street.html?m=1

I'm down. Crazy busy right now so I hope I can find the time, but I'd love to talk about it.

I've spent an inordinate amount of time watching reaction videos on YouTube.
Always starts off with "Ok Will Smith..."
Quickly followed by "Okay, Will Smith!"
Always ends with "Okaaaaaaay, Will Smith!!!!!! Bars!!! Facts!!! He snapped!!!"

I've spent an inordinate amount of time watching reaction videos on YouTube.
Always starts off with "Ok Will Smith..."
Quickly followed by "Okay, Will Smith!"
Always ends with "Okaaaaaaay, Will Smith!!!!!! Bars!!! Facts!!! He snapped!!!"

Ain't this the truth. It sounds like many of the critics went in looking to hate it, and surprise, surprise, found things to hate. Most off the criticism centered on "Why was this even made? Can't people just enjoy the one made 27 years ago?" The criticisms are also quite disparate. Some critics hated it because they viewed it as unnecessary a "scene by scene" remake of the original... it wasn't. Others hated it because too many things were changed and some of their supposed favorite parts from the original didn't make it into the live action version. Those two criticisms are mutually exclusive; this particular story can't be too similar and too different at the same time. The good thing is that I've noticed that some of those who have seen it and like it have called out the critics for some of this non-sense. Not to dismiss anyone's criticisms, but some of the bashing really is non-sense, and I'm glad to see that movie goers are smarter than what the critics give them credit for.
It's shaping up to be a big year for Will.

I know people have been looking for new music from Will. Well, we have some... 
 
Friend Like Me:
 
Arabian Nights: 
 
Prince Ali: 
 
Friend Like Me (End Title): 
 
 
 

If anyone is thinking about banning anyone, don't... please... :-) Once I find a little time, this is going to be fun...