Welcome to our latest installment of The Story of Pop: 1998, where every Thursday at 9am, we take you back to revisit one of the biggest UK chart hits of 25 years ago. And as the first wintry weather of the season arrives, we thought we’d warm you up with some Florida sunshine courtesy of a US superstar…
- Artist: Will Smith
- Song: Miami
- Released: 23/11/1998
- Writers / Producers: Ryan Toby / Will Smith / Leon Sylvers III / Stephen Shockley / William Shelby / Poke & Tone / L.E.S.
- Highest UK Chart Position: #3
- Weeks on Chart: 14
By 1998, there was little disputing that one of the biggest triple threats in the entertainment world was Will Smith. To many people in the UK, earlier in the decade, the Stateside star was best known as the star of his top rated NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which was aired here on BBC Two.
As a result, under his Fresh Prince moniker with DJ Jazzy Jeff, he topped the UK chart in 1993 on “Boom! Shake The Room”. As The Fresh Prince of Bel Air aired its final series in 1996, Will’s booming Hollywood acting career took off, landing him roles in blockbusters such as Independence Day and Bad Boys.
But it was undoubtedly his role in the sci fi action comedy Men In Black that propelled him to even greater heights. It was also the movie which tied in with the launch of his solo career and his debut album Big Willie Style, as he sung the film’s title theme song, which spent four weeks at the top of the UK charts in August 1997.
However, whilst that single was a massive seller (it was the sixth biggest selling single in the UK that year), it didn’t automatically translate to big album sales; the second single “Just Cruisin'” had stalled inside the top 30 that Christmas. It was with the rush release of his Sister Sledge sampling “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” that he turned things around.
That single returned him to the top 3 in February 1998, and more success followed with the Bill Withers sampling “Just The Two Of Us”, dedicated to his then young son Jaden, reaching #2 in July. By this point, the Big Willie Style album had been certified double platinum in the UK for sales of 600,000 copies.
Rounding off the album campaign as the fifth and final single was another song which hit upon Will’s winning formula of playful, universally appealing rap blended with familiar musical samples. “Miami” was a love letter to the Florida city of the same name, utilising a sample from The Whispers‘ 1979 hit “And The Beat Goes On”.
With an eye catching video filmed in the city itself, complete with cool cars, a speed boat sequence and a Latin flecked dance break (which pre-empted the tide of Latino flavoured music that would explode globally the following year), it was a welcome blast of tropical sunshine as the wintry weather in the UK descended, which perhaps also worked in its favour.
Standing out amongst the traditional Q4 ballads of the time, it continued Will’s run of top 3 successes from the album, entering and peaking at #3 on this very week 25 years ago. It helped solidify him as one of the entertainment world’s coolest guys around, and more success followed with his second album, Willennium, in 1999, with two more UK #2 hits in the title theme from the movie “Wild Wild West” and “Will 2K”. And whilst films – both in acting and producing – is where he is best known now, it’s safe to say his rap career was definitely a big entry point for many fans of his back in the late 90s – of which “Miami” was a glorious highlight.
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The Niche Reference 