Will Smith – ‘Men In Black’

22 August 1997

Considering Will Smith’s single ‘Men In Black’ as a rap record feels like I’m missing the point. It’s promotional collateral for Will Smith’s movie Men In Black. No, wait: maybe the single is merely the pretext for Will Smith’s video for ‘Men In Black’, the real promotional collateral for Will Smith’s movie Men In Black. Or is the single just post factum souvenir merchandise for fans of Will Smith’s movie Men In Black? This record makes me feel stupid.

Anyway, I’ll bite: ‘Men In Black’ is glossily and expertly produced, and shines like a showroom car. Patrice Rushen’s wonderful ‘Forget Me Nots’ serves it like an immigrant doctoral graduate reduced to cleaning the house of a wealthy native family. Will Smith here isn’t a rapper: he’s playing the public persona of Will Smith, more of a kids’ summer camp leader. The rap itself is family-friendly to the point of bland simplicity; ditto the dance moves in the video, and presumably all tallies with whatever was the age rating of the movie. I may just as well have held up to my ear a small plastic toy from a cereal box.