Of all the possible things I could be listening to, this week's disc is Will Smith's latest effort Lost and Found. Will Smith is universally known for his acting (Men in Black, Independence Day) and as the Fresh Prince, but after the take-off of his acting career, much less attention has been drawn to his music except when a summertime dance hit blasts up the radio charts.
The lead single is the infectious dance hit, Switch, which makes me think of Tosh and ironically, my mom is crazy about. It follows the summer dance number formula the record label seems bent on projecting. This album however, has much more to offer than that.
Will's trademark humor comes up in the lyrics of I Wish I Made That, where he laments not making some of rap's latest hits, my favorite track If U Can't Dance (Slide) where he slyly rebukes party-goers for OD-ing (over dancing), and in Pump Ya Brakes where he jokes about cat fights and inadvertent love triangles.
There is some fabulous collaborators, including Snoop Dogg, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls (Don'tcha), and Mary J. Blige, who is featured on the touching Tell Me Why. In haunting beats and simple lyrics Will tries to explain the world's violence to his child in a touching and thought provoking way that encourages personal meditation and discussion.
It's an enjoyable album for people like me who aren't fans of the overall genre, but tend to pick and choose their rappers and the rap songs that they enjoy. Will is definitely a favorite.
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