Song:Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
Album:Greatest Hits
Will Smith started out as one half of the rap duo The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff. They split up after Smith got into TV and movies. And then Smith recorded solo. He had his greatest solo success with the 1997 album Big Willie Style and singles like Gettin' Jiggy Wit It. He's mainly involved with films these days. His most recent album was released in 2005. He was born Sept. 15, 1968 in Philadelphia. He got into rap while attending high school. There have been reports that he turned down a scholarship to MIT but Smith says he wanted to rap and he never wanted to attend college. Smith met DJ Jazzy Jeff Townes in 1985 and they became one of the most popular and enduring rap acts of the late 80s mostly because their music was family friendly. But Smith mismanaged his money. He owed so much to the IRS he almost declared bankruptcy. Fortunately he signed in 1990 to star in the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That success opened the door for movies. His final album with Townes was released in 1993. Smith appeared in several films but the most successful was probably Men In Black in 1997. He also signed a solo record deal with Columbia. His first single was the theme for Men In Black. Then he released the 1997 album Big Willie Style. Most of the album was produced by Poke & Tone (Jean-Claude Olivier & Samuel Barnes) and L.E.S. (Leshan Lewis). They had success producing the rapper Nas who sat in on some of the recording sessions. Gettin' Jiggy Wit It was the second single. The song is mainly based on the Sister Sledge hit He's The Greatest Dancer written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic. Smith's idea was to repurpose the derogatory term "jigaboo" used to describe blacks. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100. The album Big Willie Style sold ten million copies worldwide. Smith has yet to repeat that success. And as Smith has had great success in films, he has phased out of music. For the 2005 album Lost and Found, Smith moved to Interscope. That's his most recent album. In 2011, Entertainment Weekly reported that Smith was recording a new album. Then in 2015, he announced plans to record with DJ Jazzy Jeff and plans to tour in 2017. Jeff is currently on a solo tour. So I don't know if Smith will ever record or tour again. Doesn't seem like it but you never know. Here's the video for Gettin' Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith.
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