Quite possibly the founder of pop hip-hop, Will Smith has created a legacy for himself. His Greatest Hits album doesn't cut any corners as it features all his biggest singles. Unfortunately I grew sick of many of the newer songs quite some time ago.
Without Jazzy Jeff making the beats, tracks like 'Just Cruisin,' 'Getting Jiggy Wit It,' 'Miami,' 'Wild Wild West,' etc were nothing more than annoying hit singles. While admittedly I found 'Men In Black' and 'Will 2K' catchy at first, their mass infestation of the radio waves left me skipping them on the Greatest Hits. As well, my favorite post-Jazzy Jeff single, 'So Fresh' was a glaring omission.
Fortunately the Greatest Hits features those classics we all remember, like 'A Nightmare on My Street,' 'Parents Just Don't Understand' and 'Summertime.' It even includes the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme.
Will Smith's Greatest Hits provides a nice capsule of his rapping career. However, unless you've been living under a rock, you probably already have all the songs or have long since grown tired of them.
Click here to buy the album at amazon.com
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(Originally posted on HipHopCanada.com)
This review was written January 9, 2002