Page 77 - Will Smith: A Biography of a Rapper Turned Movie Star

Tech Junkie Superstar
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regarding Wild, Wild West was his recording of the movie’s
theme song. It reached number one on the national sales
charts in the summer of 1999.14
Between shooting movies, Smith returned to the
recording studio to make more music. Sometimes he drew
on current events for inspiration. In the summer of 1999,
nobody could turn on a television news broadcast without
hearing about the year 2000, the first year in a new
millennium (a period of one thousand years). The
abbreviation for one thousand is the letter K, which stands
for the metric kilo, so people called the upcoming year
Y2K for short.
In a play on words, Smith titled his new album
Willennium. It was released in November 1999. “I wanted
to cover the last fifteen years of my career,” Smith said. “I
essentially wanted to make an album that covered the
gamut of the lifestyle I’ve led and am leading. The album
has real old-school on it, including the way me and [Jazzy]
Jeff used to rock, and then it has some songs that come
into my new flavor. I’m 31 years old, so I’m talking about
different things now with more mature concepts.”15
One song on Willennium, which Smith sings with Jada,
is called “Afro Angel.” It talks about the temptations of
drugs and sex in the inner city. In another song, “The
Rain,” the subject is the recklessness of Smith’s early years
in the music business. The topic may be weighty, but
Smith did not resort to profanity. He explained, “You can
be more aggressive without being profane. I could easily