Lost and Found
When Will Smith raps along to the Spider-Man theme on "Here He Comes," the supercorny opening track on his new album, you have to wonder why the former Fresh Prince just doesn't hang up his mike and stick to making movies. One listen to the cheesy chorus—"Here he comes, he can rock/ He can break-dance and he can pop/ He can rap, he can act/ And if it comes down to it, he can scrap/ Hey there...here comes Big Will again"—and he's left with about as much hip-hop cred as Peter Parker. But Smith redeems himself somewhat on the rest of this disc, which balances his usual fun, pop-flavored party songs, such as the catchy, hand-clapping single "Switch," with some atypically serious moments and a few surprisingly bitter swipes at those who think he's gone too soft. On the rock-edged "Mr. Niceguy" he defends his good-guy image, while on the pointed "I Wish I Made That" he targets black radio for not playing his music: "I guess they think Will ain't hard enough/ Maybe I should just have a shootout." He fires mostly blanks, though, when he tries to get political on the Mary J. Blige-assisted "Tell Me Why."
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Switch"
