DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Some pray. Some beg. We lament. And we have no greater reason to lament than Will Smith's aging. Look at him, a vapid, soulless Hollywood movie star with tie-in deals and model toys in his likeness. Hard to believe there was a time in his youth when he could outwit LL Cool J with more flare than Flava Flav. We seen it. We lived it. We were there.
Fine. That's a lie. We weren't there. But our uncles and aunties are certain it happened, and if Homebase is any evidence, we believe them. Smith still turns the club cuts into a stand up comedy routine, but here his jokes are actually funny (or at least fun), and are floated by Jeff Townes' incessantly creative production. On "I'm All That", Smith's one liner chorus is punctuated by a sudden horn sample and raspy chorus barking back the lyric. "A Dog is a Dog" is about as cutting edge as 1991 will ever get, despite Smith's ego getting a bit too much stroke in his verse.
Of course, we all know these compliments would have been redundant by this point in the duo's recording career. Where Homebase defers greatly from And in This Corner is in its maturity. Sure, the party cuts are here, but songs like "Summertime" defined a generation with nostalgia and grace, literally reinventing the "back in the day" sentiment as one for hip hop alone. Meanwhile, "The Things U Do" is one of the only moments they let themselves get tender without being ironic about it, and the album profits all the more for it.
Like every Will Smith album, Homebase is front-loaded. "You Saw My Blinker" gets a cheap laugh, maybe. Maybe. Aside from that, there's hardly a moment in the last four songs worth hearing. "Who Stole the DJ" is the lowest point, attempting to milk an unfunny premise and weak beat for nearly five minutes. We still don't know what they were thinking.
That said, Homebase is easily the high point of Smith's recording career. Sure, it's bubblegum. Sure, most of it is throwaway. But those aren't intrinsically bad qualities, now are they? If you can get past the Will Smith, Megastar(tm) distraction, and we insist you try, you're bound to be delighted by the simple joys Homebase proffers in abundance.
Don't believe us? Download it first.