Songoftheday 11/21/20 - Walk in shadow move in silence, guard against extra-terrestrial violence...

 

 

"Men In Black" - Will Smith

from the album Men In Black (Original Soundtrack) and Big Willie Style (both 1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart

Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #1 (four weeks)

Weeks in the Airplay Top-40: 22

 

Today's song of the day comes from rapper/actor Will Smith, who as part of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince scored five top-40 pop hits in the late 1980s/early 1990s, ending in "Boom! Shake The Room", which made the top 20 in the fall of 1993.  Later that year, Smith, who had already been a television sitcom success with The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, started his move to the cinema with his daring (for the time) off-brand role in Six Degrees Of Separation. That was followed by two mainstream juggernauts, first with Bad Boys then with the sci-fi extravaganza Independence Day, and by 1997, he was a certified A-list star. His next movie would also kick off his solo career, with his role as Agent J in Men In Black. Smith, who finally shed his "Fresh Prince" moniker, recorded the title song from the film, which would serve as the lead promo "single" from the soundtrack. "Men In Black" was anchored by the looped sample of Patrice Rushen's 1982 R&B/pop nugget "Forget Me Nots" written by Rushen, Freddie Washington, and Terri McFaddin. With lyrics from Smith, and chorus vocals from Coko from the R&B trio SWV, the instantly-recognizable hook (also used in George Michael's "Fastlove" a year prior), and the huge success of the movie, and the song was a radio staple in the summer of that year. It wasn't deep, but it was expertly executed and perfect party track for the vacationtime days...

Since "Men In Black" wasn't released as a commerical single in the U.S. (to goose up sales of the album), the song wasn't able to place on Billboard magazine's official Hot 100 pop chart. However, the track got so much love from radio that it spent a month (four weeks) at #1 on the airplay component of the tally in August of 1997. In fact, it's success was one of the reasons the industry bible decided to change the rules to allow album cuts on the list from radio airplay, though that wouldn't happen for another year. It also went to #9 on Billboard's R&B airplay list as well. Internationally, where the single was released, it went to #1 in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Hungary. "Men In Black" also reached the top ten in Canada (#2), Sweden (#2), the Netherlands (#2), Austria (#2), Denmark (#2), Iceland (#2), Finland (#2), Norway (#3), and Italy (#4). The Men In Black: The Album companion soundtrack released in July (there was also a score album from Danny Elfman released) did benefit from the lack of a single, spending two weeks on top of the Billboard 200 sales chart. The song would also close Will Smith's first solo album, Big Willie Style, which arrived in November of that year, and peaked at #8. At the Grammy Awards in 1998, Smith won his first solo award for Best Rap Solo Performance. 

A second Will Smith song on the soundtrack, "Just Cruisin", was released as a single internationally, where it became a top-40 hit in the Belgium (#5), Sweden (#7), Norway (#13), the UK (#23), France (#24), Germany (#27), Switerland (#32), and Austria (#37). Also from the movie, rapper Snoop Dogg and producer JD (Jermaine Dupri) saw their track "We Just Wanna Party With You" get to #58 on Billboard's R&B Airplay list, while in Britain, it climbed to #20 as well as making the top ten in Belgium (#7F) and New Zealand (#10). 

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

Here's Smith performing the song on the 1998 Grammy Awards, where he went home with a trophy, along with his future #1 "Gettin' Jiggy With It"...

And lastly, on a TV concert in Poland...

Up tomorrow: Jam rocker wants an accident.