Yo, I just walk out today to buy my favourite hip hop magazine like I do every month... I turned to the review section because this is what I always read first because I want to know which albums are in it! I thought they maybe have a review for "Lost And Found" and I was very excited about it and... yes, they got one but it was... I would say: a piece of s**t! But you can read on your own! I tried to translate it for y'all... sorry for the mistakes!
Ok, here's the review:
2,5 out of 6 crowns
Hip Hop can also be successful without dirty lyrics, a MC can also be a star without a gangsta-biography à la 50 Cent. This is Will Smith's motto and for years he misses no occasion to represent himself and his career as an example for that. Private, he is a responsible father, in his job as an actor he is unbelievable successful. He just makes records for fun still and to spread his philosophy as a positive, black role-model.
The only problem is: art in general - especially music - doesn't work like this. A good record isn't just an intelligent text over an instrumental, rather the lyrics and the music must create a special synthesis of expression. Akon's "Locked Up" is a good example for a track where that works: the instrumental tells already what the lyrics tell in words again. Exactly this is what Will Smith doesn't manage on "Lost And Found."
He should have published his lyrics as a guide to life in form of a book instead of putting average beats under them and sell it as an album. His answer could be probably: to reach the kids you have to put your message into rap nowadays. Nonsense. Every 10-year old child will notice that the tracks on "Lost And Found" are wack. To believe that children let manipulate themselves with messages that are packed into under-average music means to underestimate and not to support them. Will Smith's actual unprecedented film-career would have been way more effective as a silent pattern in that way.
What else is conspicuous? Big Willie outs himself on "Lost And Found" as a relative rude biter. On "Party Starter" he imitates Ludacris in an embarrassing way, "Loretta" is Eminem's "Stan" in a female form. Especially this is unpleasant because Em and Will actually put some disses on each other in the last time.
Because of that and for some other reasons: No human being needs "Lost And Found." We don't and Will "20 million dollars per film" Smith actual don't need it too.