Is this Prince still Fresh enough?

[Hero1]

VIBE - 1996

POP EYE

Is This Prince Still Fresh Enough?

By Steve Hochman

Will Smith kicked alien butt in "Independence Day." But by

building a mega-hot movie career, has the rapper-turned-actor

become an alien in the world of hip-hop?

In his rap guise as the Fresh Prince, Smith and his musical

partner DJ Jazzy Jeff are about to test that question, with plans

just set for a new album expected to be released by Jive

Records in February. But while such such figures as Ice Cube,

LL Cool J and the late Tupac Shakur have balanced rap

credibility with movie and TV careers, there are many

questions about Smith's status in hip-hop.

On one hand, the timing couldn't be better: Smith became a

household name with his just-concluded six-year stint in the

NBC sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and with lauded

roles in the films "Six Degrees of Separation" and "BadBoys"

before shooting into the movie stratosphere with

"Independence Day," this year's biggest blockbuster.

During that time, the rap career has taken a back seat.

During the NBC stint, only two DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh

Prince albums were released. The second, 1993's "Code

Red," sold just 300,000 copies in the U.S., according to

SoundScan figures.

That's a big drop-off from the late '80s, when the duo was

one of the most visible and renowned actsin pop, with Smith's

wit and video presence and Jeff Townes' turn-table prowess

earning the duo a series of hit singles and albums--along with

the first-ever rap Grammy Award in 1988.

Since the last album, Smith has shown little interest in rap,

not just because he was busy with bigger things, but because

he felt that he and the rest of the hip-hop world were living on

different planets. Just six months ago he told The Times he was

perplexed by gangsta rap's "ignorance" and violence.

"Somewhere along the line it became cool to be a killer,"

he said of the genre's popularity. "How can that be cool?"

But whatever his misgivings, Smith apparently is ready to

re-enter the hip-hop world.

"He's been writing and producing a lot [of songs] and is

really looking forward to making a record," says Smith's

co-manager James Lassiter. (Smith was taking time off and

unavailable for comment.)

Being a big movie star,Lassiter says, has not diminished

his client's love of music.

"The issue is more a matter of time," he says, noting that

Smith and Townes hope to finish the album before the former

starts on an as-yet-undetermined movie project, probably in

February. "His attitude toward recording hasn't been affected

by his movie status."

Maybe, though, it's been affected by a lawsuit filed by Jive

charging that the failure to actively pursue recording constitutes

a breach of a contract under which the duo still owes the

company two new albums and a "best of" collection.

Lassiter insists that the planned return to the studio was not

stimulated by the suit, but acknowledges that it is one of the

"right steps that have been taken" toward an out-of-court

settlement.

Opinions among hip-hop observers are split on the new

album's prospects.

Darryl James, editor-in-chief of the Santa Monica-based

journal Rap Sheet, believes that Smith's screen star status is a

plus.

"The fact that he is much more of a public personality than

for the last album will certainly help," he says. "That plus a

strong album will equal very successful sales."

But Vibe magazine associate editor Sacha Jenkins isn't so

sure. "Maybe with the success of 'Independence Day' there are

some people in Middle America who shop at Kmart who

might check out a new album," he says.

"But in the culture where they were once real competitors,

no one is anticipating this on that level--unless they're die-hard

fans or are from Philadelphia and went to high school with

them. Smith's a talented guy and seems genuinely nice and

people appreciate that. But nice guys don't last long in

hip-hop."

[Hero1]

and following on from that...

Tuesday June 24 1997 10:26 PM EDT

Will Smith, Columbia Records Sign Pact

By Adam Sandler

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Just don't call himthe Fresh Prince.

Rapper Will Smith, whose warbling of thetitle track to the Columbia Pictures film ``Men In Black'' has reestablishedthe recording artist-turned-actor as a musical powerhouse, has been inked to alucrative, multiyear recording pact with Columbia Records. He'll drop hisformer rap moniker and will record under his own name.

While many singers have acted and manyactors have tried their hand at recording albums, the Grammy-winning Smith hasthe distinction of become the only recording artist of the rock era to becomehighly successful in three media: series TV, film and music.

The deal also comes as the track -- areworking of Patrice Rushen's 1982 hit Forget Me Nots -- is heating up atradio, the accompanying musicvid has become an MTV staple, and the song is thefirst wave off a potent soundtrack that boasts cuts from D'Angelo, Ginuwine andrappers Nas and Snoop Doggy Dogg.

The soundtrack disc bows July 1.

Smith, who co-stars in Men In Black withTommy Lee Jones, also settled his litigation with Zomba Music Group, the parentof Jive Records, as part of the deal.

Smith recorded for Jive as the Fresh Princealong with DJ Jazzy Jeff (Jeff Townes) and had asked to get out of his pact.Sources said Zomba chief Clive Calder was instrumental in making that happen.Several Jive-Zomba acts also appear on the soundtrack.

The duo picked up the rap perf Grammy in1988 for Parents Just Don't Understand a track off the duo's bow ``He's the DJ,I'm the Rapper.''

The deal is a coup for the Sony-ownedlabel, which pursued Smith to help complement the film's marketing campaign. Hecould release an album early next year once there is a window in his busyschedule.

In addition to co-starring last year in20th Century Fox's Independence Day (which has become the second-biggestworldwide grossing film behind Jurassic Park), Smith has seen his stock riseconsiderably since appearing in 1995 in Columbia's Bad Boys, the MichaelBay-helmed film co-starring Martin Lawrence.

Smith is also a three-time member of the$100 million club as he has appeared in three films that have crossed thatvaunted international box office threshold: Day, Made in America and Bad Boys.

His next project is Love for Hire forImagine-Universal, which he penned and in which he will co-star with girlfriendJada Pinkett.

Smith co-starred in the NBC sitcom FreshPrince of Bel-Air, which ran for six years.

[Hero1]

The

Artist-Formerly-Known-As-The-Fresh-Prince.

Mr. Smith. Big Will. Or just plain Big

Willie. None of these snazzy monikers can

begin to fully describe Will Smith. A

natural in an information crazed age -

warm, whimsical, telegenic, charismatic --

Smith has cut a trail across an increasingly

complex electronic frontier: LP, CD, MTV,

NBC, CD-ROM, and DVD. He's a

multimedia phenomenon with a

million-dollar smirk.

But through his various incarnations -

rapper, actor, box-office deity - Will Smith

has constantly challenged himself. So a

return to the world of music was almost

expected. Consider for a moment, however,

when Smith began rapping at the age

twelve, hip-hop was a small part of Black

counter-culture, but over the last seventeen

years hip- hop has become an international

commodity. Smith was troubled by the

escalating violence associated with hip-hop

and the tragic deaths of Tupac and Biggie.

Frankly he was unsure of his role. "That

was a large part of why I didn't make a

record," Smith explains. "It was like I don't

even wanna rhyme. I made records in my

crib. I thought that if this is what the world

is going to, then I don't think there's any

place in there for me." On his very first

solo album, Big Willie Style, Smith boldly

takes a seat at the table.

Make room for the staccato delivery that

enlivened such old-school gems as "Parents

Just Don't Understand" and "Girls of the

World...." Big Willie Style is an apt

description of his steelo. Unlike his

contemporaries, Smith doesn't boast about

his European fashion rags or swilling

Cristal. Instead, he mocks our own

fascination with celebrity. Yet he does it

Big Willie Style, with gratitude, humor, and

humility. "I wake up everyday and life is

just damn good", he explains. "It's just good

to be me. I wake up everyday thanking

God."

But query Smith on the Big Willie lifestyle,

and he has a different definition. "Being a

Big Willie is not about what kind of car you

drive, it's not really that. Being a Willie is

in your attitude. Being a Willie is based on

other things, so-called Willies use different

measuring tools than I use. For me, the

ultimate Willie tool, the Willie measuring

stick, the Willie litmus test is intellect. I

always appreciated Chuck D, Melle Mel,

Rakim, and KRS-One for their intellect.

There's thought in their rhymes, a lot of

times you see people, these so-called

Willies not coming up with anything."

From his very first steps, Smith's life has

been a Capra-esque screenplay. A native of

West Philadelphia, Will Smith II was born

to a working-class household, his father a

refrigeration engineer; his mother, a school

administrator. As a gradeschooler, Smith

began hearing faint rumblings from up

north, the Big Apple, more specifically,

The Bronx. Eager to duplicate these sounds,

he became a student of rhyme. "I bought my

first rap record when I was twelve, I guess

that was like 1980, when Sugarhill Records

and Enjoy Records were all there was,"

Smith recalls. "If it didn't have either one of

those labels, then there was no need to buy

it."

Behind the kick drum of an 808 and a

sample of TV golden-oldie "I Dream of

Jeannie," Smith and turntable wizard DJ

Jazzy Jeff spun a new brand of hip-hop,

devoid of bombastic politics or

exclusionary rhetoric - it was pure

adolescent angst ("Girls of the World Ain't

Nothing But Trouble"). Smith followed

with more playful ribaldry on the pair's

inaugural album, 1987's Rock The House,

while DJ Jeff introduced a hyper-kinetic

form of scratching called "transforming"

that few dared to challenge. Early on,

parents championed Smith and Jeff over

"Parental Advisory" branded hip-hop,

inevitably broadening their appeal, as well

as their fan base. Dubbed a soft-core rap

act, the preternaturally gifted Will and Jeff

made the industry as a whole sit up and take

notice. The group's success led the National

Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

(NARAS) to award DJ Jazzy Jeff & the

Fresh Prince the first ever "Best Rap

Performance" Grammy in 1988 (for

"Parents Just Don't Understand"). The pair

would go on to win the "Best Rap

Performance By A Duo Or Group" Grammy

in 1991 for "Summertime." DJ Jazzy Jeff &

the Fresh Prince were ultimately

responsible for the multiplatinum releases

He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper (1988), And

In This Corner (1989), Homebase (1990),

and CodeRed (1993).

The infectious entertainment value of

Smith's stage persona did not go unnoticed.

Hollywood would soon be knocking. After

Will Smith met media impresario Quincy

Jones, a new television sitcom was born:

the enormously successful The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air. Loosely based on the contours

of Will's own personality - wisecracking

Philly kid makes good - The Fresh Prince

had a highly-rated six-season run. Looking

for new challenges, the 25-year-old Smith

expanded the range of his acting and

entered the world of film.

He made his film debut in Where The Day

Takes You, a gritty tale of L.A.'s homeless

subculture. His next role was unabashed

proof that a major new talent had arrived.

In an adaptation of the Broadway hit, Six

Degrees of Separation, Will morphed into

Paul, a gay street hustler, who convinces a

family of blue-bloods that he's the son of

Sidney Poitier. Reviews of Smith's

performance were stellar. More screen

action lay ahead. For Bad Boys, a

testosterone-fueled jaunt through Miami's

backstreets, he buddied up with comedian

Martin Lawrence.

Bad Boys convinced audiences Smith could

throw a punch as well as he could a punch

line. While playing a swaggering detective

is one thing, saving the world is quite

another. Nothing could prepare Will-lovers

for Independence Day, the box-office

champion of 1996 and one of the highest

grossing films in Hollywood history. Who

can forget Captain Steven Hiller's hilarious

rejoinder "When we gonna kick ET's ass!"?

Ironically, ET creator Steven Spielberg

was producing another aliens-run-amuck

adventure and Smith was his first pick.

Released in summer '97, Men In Black

would again give Smith the

highest-grossing film of the year. The

best-selling Men In Black soundtrack put

Will Smith back on the map as a recording

artist: his raucous rappin' single of the title

track was an international global smash

while Will's rock video for the tune walked

off with the MTV Video Music Award for

Best Video From A Motion Picture. In the

months ahead, Will begins lensing Enemy

of the State, an action-thriller slated for a

summer '98 release.

While the big screen served as a dramatic

and lucrative playground, nothing compares

to music, his first love. For him, hip-hop's

allure is ever inviting. If the #1 global

success of "Men In Black" was the

appetizer, Big Willie Style is the

full-course dinner. "This is the first time

I've been able to make a record without any

financial constraints. Whatever video I saw

in my head; whatever producers I wanted to

work with. I had everything at my disposal

and this was my opportunity with no

excuses."

Indeed Big Willie Style spares no effort or

expense. Cameo frontman Larry Blackmon

was brought into juice up his 80's classic,

"Candy." The only thing missing in the

studio session was him having the cup in,"

chuckles Smith. And it doesn't stop there,

Big Willie Style rolls out a bevy of super

producers including Poke and Tone, better

known as the Trackmasters, in fine form on

tracks like "Gettin' Jiggy With It," and

"Miami" with its walloping beats and

funk-inspired bass lines.

For those who thought Smith had forsaken

his life-long collaborator, DJ Jazzy Jeff,

perish the thought. "Don't Say Nothin'" and

"It's All Good" return to the magic of those

simpler earlier days. "We recorded it in

Jeff's house," Will says. "We're not going in

the studio, we're doing this in the crib."

Peep some of his nimble free-style work on

"Yes, Yes Y'all": "I rip rhymes for the flow

of it/you know the show of it/not the Benz

600 four-door of it/I'ma rhyme regardless

of earnin' long as my heart keeps yearnin'/I

got's to keep burnin'." However, never far

from earshot is Will's trademark sense of

humor. Witness the character skits with

Keith B. Real, voiced by Jamie Foxx. Real

is "the brother who soon as he sees

somebody successful has beef with it...you

know a 'player hater.'"

Bringing it down a notch, Smith has penned

a loving tribute to his son performed to a

sample of Bill Withers' "Just The Two Of

Us." "It's about capturing a piece of who I

am. In ten years, I just want him to have

something he could listen to....a snapshot of

what was going in his father's mind." Smith

also talks about Jada Pinkett, the woman in

his life, on "Forever": "She makes me feel

good, makes me feel that forever is a

possibility," Smith gushes. This Big Willie

is secure in revealing a tender side. "A lot

of people don't even believe that."

Faith, family, friendships and the need for a

challenge are the forces that continue to

drive this fresh-faced wild-styled kid from

Philly. He has confounded naysayers

throughout his career. Big Willie Style

finds the international superstar humble, but

still at the top of his game. "Music is the

most difficult creative form," says Will

Smith. "Music is like a baby, you gotta

nurture it, every second of your life has to

be dedicated to the music. It's really a huge

undertaking."

[Hero1]

Original BWS Tracklisting..

01 Album intro

02 Y’all know

03 Getting’ Jiggy Wit’It

04 Candy ftg LarryBlackman/Cameo

05 Chasing Forever

06 Jada (interlude)

07 Don’t Say Nothin’

08 Yes Yes Y’all

09 Miami

10 I Loved You

11 Just Cruisin(Remix)

12 Jeff (Interlude)

13 It’s All Good

14 Just the two of us

15 Barbershop(Interlude)

16 Big Willie Style(ftg Left Eye)

17 Keeping it Real

18 Round & Round

19 Lean Left, LeanRight

[JumpinJack AJ]

Man, I remember some of these articles at the time they were out and the 1996 one u sent me a couple years ago. I'm totally in BWS mode right now. What a great time. Hip-Hop had been taking hits commercially for a few years but alot of artists back then at least had some talent and/or dope beats under them. FP's spark was being rekindled. What a great time. I remember ordering that Special Edition of BWS like 4 or 5 times before they stopped sending me the regular album because the version with those other tracks doesn't exist. Isn't it time for a Big Willie Style double disc platnium edition featuring a bonus disc with remixes, unreleased tracks, and a DVD featuring videos, interviews, and performances from that era?

[Hero1]

I remember ordering that Special Edition of BWS like 4 or 5 times before they stopped sending me the regular album because the version with those other tracks doesn't exist. Isn't it time for a Big Willie Style double disc platnium edition featuring a bonus disc with remixes, unreleased tracks, and a DVD featuring videos, interviews, and performances from that era?

I think the Promo version of that album had some of those tracks because I remember reading a review which mentioned one of them.. A platinum edition re-release would be awesome!

[Silver Tiger]

But Vibe magazine associate editor Sacha Jenkins isn't so

sure. "Maybe with the success of 'Independence Day' there are

some people in Middle America who shop at Kmart who

might check out a new album," he says.

"But in the culture where they were once real competitors,

no one is anticipating this on that level--unless they're die-hard

fans or are from Philadelphia and went to high school with

them. Smith's a talented guy and seems genuinely nice and

people appreciate that. But nice guys don't last long in

hip-hop."

Haha, Sacha Jenkins couldn't have been more wrong about that album. I'd like to see hear those unreleased tracks too. Will blowing up in the movie business really took a lot of away from what we could have gotten, musically.

[fan 4ever]

Thanx 4 the articles! That tracklist looks dope! Hope we will ever hear those tracks! I remember listening to BWS all the time. A platinum edition would be dope....but I doubt that will ever happen!

[JumpinJack AJ]

In all my years of digging I've never seen a promo with any additional songs. I'll rededicate myself to this just incase.

[VIsqo]

I remember some of those articles, cool stuff

[bigted]

It was interesting how much doubt there was about how Will could come back with a hit album after being away all those years filming before "Big Willie Style" dropped and it turned out to be one of the most popular albums ever, great find Tim

[TheFre$hPrince]

Nice articles. I enjoyed reading them.