Will Smith is not The Fresh Prince. Let’s make that clear from the beginning.
The Fresh Prince is a legend.
Will Smith is a legend.
If their music careers were to be completely separated as they are in my head, and they were two separate people (as I see them) they would be the careers of two legends.
Will Smith is not The Fresh Prince.
The Fresh Prince was a teenager turned rapper.
Will Smith is a movie star turned rapper.
Yes the same skills were used in both transformations, but one could argue that it was more difficult for Will Smith. Yes he was more famous than The Fresh Prince, but he had two serious handicaps.
1: Will music fans take him serious as a rapper?
This was a minor setback because he never needed to be taken serious as a rapper to achieve what he did. To be honest, I’m not even 100% sure if he even accomplished this one.
2: Can he do it while making your biggest releases the lead single from the movie you are starring in?
Not only do you have to make a video advertising the movie you’re starring in, you have to make it catchy enough to blow up and lyrical enough not to hear it and be ashamed.
When Will Smith did Men In Black it wasn’t the return of The Fresh Prince, it was the introduction of Will Smith (rapper). He never even said the name Fresh Prince anymore. His name at the beginning of the video tag was noticeably not the Fresh Prince. This was Will Smith. He rapped about a movie that no one had seen yet. He danced like you’d think Will Smith would dance (this will be addressed later). This was a different legend.
In the year of our Queen Beyonce, nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, Will Smith dropped the song Wild Wild West. He dropped a music video right after it on some Michael Jackson shit. Here is my analysis.
From the beginning we are greeted with an abundance of Will Smith mouth scratch sounds, leather, and fire. This town is set a blazed presumably by what I can only describe as late 90’s PG rated Hot Fire Dylon. I don’t know any of the characters he is referencing and I have no idea what the major issue of this film might be, but I am here for the ride. It should be noted I have seen every Will Smith film but this one, but after I’m done writing this I will more than likely watch it. The ad campaign didn’t work the first time, but I can already tell I won’t be able to resist it twice.
Another staple of 90’s soundtrack song videos is the cameo of the actor from the movie. Salma Hayek is here and she’s is definitely doing the most actual acting out of anyone in this video. I don’t know if she is here for free because she knew this was going to be a hit, or because the studio could tell from test screenings that the only way to break even on this movie was to go platinum on the single.
From what I have gathered from this very exposition filled verse, this isn’t even Will Smith. This is Jim West. That must be why he is wearing those Elton John glasses. Also women apparently “be outta that dress” as soon as they meet him. That is if I was to trust his word. This is a tough call because I have strict no trust policy for anybody that wears leather vests while surrounded by open flames.
The warning here is something I think everyone should should be aware of. If you ever see this man and his “hand is where his hip be at”, run. Run for your lives. He is not for the games. He is surrounded by fire so he obviously wants smoke. He is definitely with the shits. West Philly’s Own.
Kool Moe Dee has just arrived. Leather was mandatory. So was a downsize of his traditional shades. The neckerchief is in full effect. He’s about to take command of the hook that he created. He’s not here to be sampled. He’s here to make the real featured artist and writer money. LETS DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
What. Was. The. Fire. Budget. On. This. Set? I’m almost shocked they didn’t go full triple W at this point. I guess one big W does the job but there is no way 3 of them wasn’t originally on the docket.
Ok, so either KMD was only the bridge, or this song has two separate choruses. Either way, Sisqo is here and we are already over our leather quota. Also KMD’s portion of the money just got split in half. Sisqo has a strong history of doing way too much movement while in rap videos. He’s what one would call King of Doing The Most. See also: Him In Place Moonwalking next to DMX in the “What They Want” video.
Will and Sisqo are doing coordinated movements. I don’t consider it dancing if only the top half of the body is moving. I’m starting to wonder how this movie was considered a flop. Had the world seen the Will & Sisqo 1-2 Punch? It should’ve been enough to have the whole world flock to the box office.
Sisqo isn’t solo. Tell KMD we are splitting his check 5 ways now. Woody, Nokio and Jazz have arrived to join in on the top half of the body dancing. Raising the roof, saying no with their hands, and a great deal of leaning. This R&B group has come to earn their keep.
For all of the people too young to understand soundtrack single releases, they used to just throw clips from the movie throughout the background of the videos. At a minimum they were supposed to show you random scenes that subliminally make you want to see the movie. At their best they gave you cool snippets. At worst they literally showed you the entire plot of the movie (I’m talking about you Kiss From A Rose). Even at peak Will Smith powers he couldn’t get a white costar to show up in a music video. This was a guaranteed hit, and Kevin Kline was still only seen through blurry movie footage. Men In Black was a little more of a gamble, but no way Tommy Lee Jones or Linda Fiorentino was gonna be on set. It takes a special type of power to bring out the white movie star to the soundtrack rap single.
Shout out to Coolio and the wizardry that had Michelle Phifer sitting in a backwards chair while he visibly rap spit in her face for an entire day of shooting scenes in a sparsely lit ghetto hell hole. Now other random celebrity cameos are no problem for a Will Smith video.
Enrique Iglesias and Lorenz Tate have been paired here. Sadly this combo never reached its true potential anywhere in this video or outside in the real world.
Just to recap this song is Will Smith, Kool Moe Dee, and four members of Dru Hill. The actor audience of this video are just as stunned as I am.
Shari Headley is here. Or should I call her by the name of the role in this video. AN EXTREME CLOSE UP OF LISA FROM COMING TO AMERICA IN ALL CAPS is here.
If the video was too exciting they invited Babyface. That way if you’re too hyped up you can just think of some of his songs and catch a quick nap.
Shari wasn’t alone. MC Lyte is next to her along with…. Well I don’t know if the woman to the left is just an extra or an actual famous person from the late 90’s that I have forgotten. That’s to say that sometimes it didn't take huge fame to end up in a music video. You just had to black-famous for the moment and end up in a video. She’s next to the love interest from a movie released a decade before this video so there is no telling. She could’ve been someone popping between anywhere from 1988 to 1999 based on this line up.
And now we have a joke that Stevie Wonder is also looking to see who is coming down the stairs. That reminds me that even though the hook was the sample of a 80’s rap song, the actual music is a sample of a Stevie song from the 70’s…. somebody tell KMD that he’s now splitting it six ways.
Either of these two could also be famous from that era, but I don’t think they are. But it does need to be mentioned that gluing a plastic jewel to the middle of your forehead was definitely a think women were doing in the late 90’s and early 00’s, and every one of the women that did it should feel shame for it.
And the MVP of cameos for this video goes to Alfonso Ribeiro. Not because he was the coolest. Not because he’s holding a cane and using it to lift his cap. Because he is Will’s only connection to the Fresh Prince that is seen in ANY of his videos as Will Smith. Carlton popping up right here is the only proof that Will Smith and The Fresh Prince are the same person, and since technically this a connection through the tv show and not the rapper this is still only through name. It would be another two videos before even Jazzy Jeff would be in one of Will Smith’s videos. That’s two whole albums in. To be fair, Big Willie Style went 6X Platinum, so it’s not like he needed to be the Fresh Prince. For 6 million record sales I know some rappers that would murder the Fresh Prince in his sleep.
I don’t want anyone to be fooled by this white costar cameo. It isn’t really him. The guy who plays the character Loveless (the name I only know from this song) is (quick Google search) Kenneth Branagh. This not him. It’s just a body double at a horrible angle.
Earlier when I said Will put this video out on some Michael Jackson shit it was because he copied Smooth Criminal. He shows up, people almost pull guns on him, he throws his hat (instead of a coin to the jukebox), and when it lands the music starts, and he dances around in a white suit…. Will Smith is a biter. But worse than that, Will Smith just threw a boomerang hat and magically changed his suit color from black to pure cocaine white when it lands miraculously back on to his head.
There is a full dance sequence here. If you aren’t sure how it looks just take a gander at the look on Will’s face. As you can see it’s going horrible. I do not remember Will being a bad dancer. I do not remember this stuff looking this mechanical. I do not remember the blinding whiteness of this suit. How many ghosts did Will hunt, disable, and sew together to make this suit. Where are certainly in strange times. It is almost the 20 year anniversary of this video and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of the signs of the pending apocalypse.
This move was banned after the New Years Eve 2000. This carries a felony charge in 47 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Not even a Will Smith video is safe from the stamp of 2019 toxic masculinity. Unprompted he just ripped a woman’s skirt off and smiled to her face about it.
Simulated handgun fire where all surrounding dancers fall to the floor is something I definitely want recreated in the stage play/musical retelling my life story. I’m not sure where it would fit in my actual life story but I’m sure I can make room somewhere.
Definitely far more female open crotch shots than I remember being in ANY Will Smith video.
And this young lady appears to be enjoying this move far more than the director anticipated. A quick pause button is key to some of these images, and I can unintentionally say for sure I saw at least 3 different panty liners during this portion of the video. That is officially 3 more than the average music video of any era.
Just in case you thought for one second that Sisqo had for some reason not continued on his quest for officially doing the most, I assure you that is well on his way.
And if it feels like I haven’t mentioned anything about the song for some time it’s because even the last verse was performed while doing full choreography. Will Smith has been dancing for 2:30 straight minutes of this song. The only bad part about it was his dancing. He knew the steps. He performed the steps…. Maybe it was the suit. The suit had him looking stiff as hell. I think wardrobe went too tight for all that movement. Maybe that was same dilemma in the Men In Black video too.
And that’s it. A classic was born, performed, and completed right before our very eyes, and the world was better for it.
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