Big Willie Style
Production
- Trackmasters
- L.E.S.
- Jazzy Jeff
- Keith Pelzer
- Ryan Toby
- Andreao " Fanatic " Heard
- Sauce
Big Willie Style is the debut album of American rapper and actor Will Smith as a solo artist. It was released in 1997 and is his most successful work to date.
About the Album
Big Willie Style was the first album by Smith after four years and without his long-time partner Jazzy Jeff, however, produced some of the songs on the album.
It consists primarily of " Party Jams " whose melodies often by older black music hits originate (see Big Willie Style # samples). Content Smith represents mostly the own person and her life as a Hollywood star, but as a private person and family man (as in "Just the Two of Us "). The songs "Chasing Forever" and " I Loved You" treat his experiences in love relationships.
The lead singer of the funk and R & B group Cameo, Larry Blackmon, the hip- hop duo Camp Lo and rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of the pop trio TLC, as well as a number of lesser known R & B singers are represented on the album.
Singles
The first single from Big Willie Style was "Men in Black". Its content and video was clearly inspired by the eponymous film. The song spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 airplay in the U.S., but was not released as a single. In contrast, he reached the top of the charts in Germany, England, Australia, France, Switzerland and New Zealand. 1998 won the song in the Best Rap Solo Performance category a Grammy Award.
The second single was also represented and " Just Cruisin '" on the soundtrack to Men in Black. It reached # 27 in the Media Control charts, number 23 of the UK Top 40 and No. 7 in Sweden. On the U.S. version of the album, she is not.
In January 1998 came " Gettin ' Jiggy wit It" and came out for two weeks, the top position of the Billboard Hot 100, and top 10 positions in several other countries. The song was in 1999, as "Men in Black" a year earlier, the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, which Smith is currently the only artist who received this prize for two songs from the same album. Both songs also received a Video Music Award.
The fourth single, the song " Just the Two of Us " was coupled out which content to his son, Trey, who is also seen in the accompanying video, directed. It was ranked 20 in the U.S., New Zealand, reached number 6 in England 2nd place
The last single from the album, released almost a year after the album was "Miami". The song reached # 5 on the Top 40 Austria, # 4 on the Swiss Charts and number 3 on the UK Top 40 This would give four of the five singles of the album are the top 5 in England. The video for " Miami " is regarded as the seventh most expensive of all time and contains an early guest appearance by Eva Mendes. Towards the end of the video is to hear the " Miami Mix" of the song.
Title list
- Co - produced by Will Smith
- Produced by Andreao " Fanatic " Heard
- Co -produced by L.E.S.
- Co -produced by L.E.S.
- Co -produced by L.E.S.
- Co - produced by Will Smith
- Produced by Jazzy Jeff and Keith Pelzer
- Co -produced by Ryan Toby
- Co -produced by L.E.S.
- Produced by Jazzy Jeff, Keith Pelzer and Valvin Roane
- Co -produced by Ryan Toby
- Co - produced by Will Smith
- Produced by Jazzy Jeff
- Produced by Sauce
- Co - produced by Will Smith
- Produced by L.E.S.
- Co -produced by L.E.S.
Samples
Most of the songs on the album are built on musical samples from funk, R & B and disco pieces from the 70s and 80s.
Samples used:
- He's the Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge
- Sang and Dance - The Bar- Kays
- Love Rap - Spoonie G
- Candy - Cameo
- Ribbon in the Sky - Stevie Wonder
- And the Beat Goes On - The Whispers
- Here We Go Again - The Isley Brothers
- All Around the World - Lisa Stansfield
- Yearning for Your Love - GAP band
- Upon This Rock - Joe Farrell
- Good Times - Chic
- Celebration - Kool & the Gang
- Something Special - Earth, Wind & Fire
- Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen
- I'm Back for More - Kenneth Stover
Reception
Reviews
The album was praised by his appearing for the successful balancing act between "hip -hop street cred and mainstream glamor". The fact that Smith further pursued the mitgeprägten of him pop rap and not eintauschte against the popular road and Gangsta Rap, was mostly positive.
" Throughout, he displays the confident craft of a screenwriter and the unthreatened bounce of a guy with little to prove. In doing so, he tells the larger story of rap values tweaking the American dream, of how he's come to terms with the conflict in between the neighborhood and the global cineplex. The result is an exceptional megacelebrity album. "
" Instead of trying to toughen his image, Smith continued with the friendly, humorous pop -rap did HAS BEEN his trademark since He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. Of course, he gives the music a glossy modern sheen ( ironically based on early- '80s funk ) in order to prove he 's still hip did - and it works. Sure, there's filler scattered all the way through the the album, but the best moments (...) rank among his best singles. "
"The musical world Suffered no great loss When Will Smith ditched rapping for acting. His '80s hip -hop, as the Fresh Prince, had marginal novelty teen appeal. But his first album in four years is worse, lapsing into non-stop pop -rap clichés. Even the smash single " Men in Black, " included here, Merely exploits his celebrity and the goodwill built up by the movie. At this point, Smith Has as much business rapping as Eddie Murphy does singing. "
Achievements
Big Willie Style is one of the most commercially successful hip hop albums of all time. So far, at least 12 million units of the album have sold worldwide, in the U.S. it has been awarded 10 times platinum. In the charts, it was also successful and could occupy a top 10 position including England, France and the United States. In England kept the album 56 in the U.S. 99 weeks on the charts.