Songoftheday 3/11/21 - On your mark ready set let's go dance floor pro, I know you know I go psycho when my new joint hit just can't sit...

 

 

"Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" - Will Smith

from the album Big Willie Style (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 28

 

Today's song of the day comes from Will Smith, who had gone from being a comic novelty rapper as "the Fresh Prince" with DJ Jazzy Jeff, to becoming a big-league motion picture star, which parleyed into Will striking out solo with the title song from the film he starred in, "Men In Black", which topped the radio chart in America for a month in the summer of 1997. Later that year, Smith released his first solo album, which included both "Men In Black" as well as the other song of his from the movie, "Just Cruisin'", which was a decent worldwide hit. The third song from the record that would be promoted to radio (and his first solo non-movie track) was "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It". Built on a foundation of the instrumental from Sister Sledge's classic disco hit "He's The Greatest Dancer", which gave Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic writing credit along with Smith, producer Sam Barnes, and Joe Robinson, the record was nothing but a party jam with no big aspirations. Will has a way to boast about himself affably without seeming either pretentious or menacing, and his heightened profile from his acting brought him completely into the mainstream more than ever. With a music video shot in different locations on the Las Vegas Strip, "Gettin' Jiggy" ended up eclipsing "Men In Black" to become his biggest pop success...

"Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" became Smith's first and only #1 hit on the official Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in March of 1998. The song also climbed to #6 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, while topping their Rap Singles list for two weeks. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in the UK (#3), Sweden (#4), Hungary (#4), Norway (#5), Italy (#6), Australia (#6), New Zealand (#6), The Netherlands (#7),  Ireland (#8), Finland (#9), Greece (#9), and Belgium (#10F/#12W). It also went to #15 in France, #18 in Germany, and #23 in Canada. At the Grammy Awards in 1999, "Gettin' Jiggy" won for Best Solo Rap Performance. 

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Here's Smith performing the song in front of a studio audience...

And in his hometown of Philly for Live 8 in 2005...

Up tomorrow: Former backing group strikes out on their own for a colliding good time.