Lost and Found (Will Smith album)

Lost and Found is the fourth studio album released by Will Smith. It was released in the spring of 2005 and was certified gold by the RIAA. This album features the single "Switch".

Background

The album is Smith's first to be released on Interscope Records after several releases with Columbia. It is also his first studio album since Born to Reign. Released in early 2005, the album features the hit single "Switch". Guest artists on the album include Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and long-time partner DJ Jazzy Jeff. The title comes from how he felt he was "lost" since he's put rap primarily on hold to do films, and "found" because he's back again. The album cover features Smith with a street sign saying West Philly & Hollywood in reference to his Philadelphia roots and current Hollywood life as a superstar. The album is consistent in its critiques of the perceived state of hip hop, and the album has gained some notoriety because of a track entitled "Mr. Nice Guy", in which he takes slight shots at those who have criticized him in the past, namely Wendy Williams, Larry Elder, and Eminem. The first track "Here He Comes" features Will rapping about his return to rap & versatility (a common theme), sampling the classic Spider-Man theme song from the 1960s cartoon. Other tracks include "If U Can't Dance (Slide)" which includes the "Women equate dance with sex" line that appears in Smith's movie Hitch; along with a song about a real life stalker ("Loretta") while "Ms. Holy Roller" deals with his view that extremist Christians are just as bad as the extremists who committed the terrorist bombings of 9/11, as well as aspects of his own faith and his ex-wife's conversion to Christianity. Both the title track & "I Wish I Made That/Swagga" deal with Smith commenting on current hip-hop. "I Wish I Made That/Swagga" is really two short songs, with the first half ("I Wish I Made That") talking about critiques of him not being "black enough" and black radio not playing his music despite high record sales. It references recent rap hits including Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder", Terror Squad's "Lean Back", Snoop Dogg's (who is a guest artist on "Pump Ya Brakes") "Drop It Like It's Hot" as well as Smith's own 1991 hit "Summertime" from his DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince days. The second half (aka "Swagga") is about his return to rap ("I got my swagga [swagger] back"). In "Lost & Found" he speaks how he doesn't do the standard "sex, drugs and violence" songs as found in popular gangsta rap and the similarities and stereotypes of current hip-hop. This also contains only very light language, such as occasional use of the word "damn", but never any "explicit" curse words, which is very common in the modern hip-hop genre. The track "Tell Me Why" is one of Will's most emotional and dark tracks. It tells about senseless violence, about how love is unable to defeat hate on this earth. "Tell Me Why" was originally planned to be Will's second single but producers of "Party Starter" started mixing a new version for the song already. Lost and Found was certified Gold by the RIAA on July 6, 2005.

Track listing

Charts

References