Will Smith Hip-Hop For Beginners

So you found Will Smith’s performance in The Pursuit of Happyness highly entertaining and moving, and you wish to educate yourself on other aspects of his career, huh? Well, you may be surprised to know that he’s also had a successful second career as a rapper. He actually had quite a big hit a few years ago, with a nice little ditty entitled “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, from a popular record of his called Big Willie Style. For the uninitiated in Will Smith’s hip hop, here’s a handy guide to the meanings behind some of those hip, happening rhymes “the Fresh Prince” (a really cool hip-hop nickname of Mr. Smith’s) slips by in “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”. I wouldn’t want you to come off all wiggety-wiggety-wack, as the kids say, at your next get-together!

‘Dance floor pro / I know you know I go psycho when my new joint hit’ – No mention of marijuana cigarettes here! ‘Joint’ refers to a particular song Mr. Smith is quite fond of. In the nightclub in which he is currently jovially living life, the DJ (‘disc jockey’) has started playing this particular ‘joint’. Mr. Smith decides to celebrate this DJ’s good taste in musical stylings by ‘going psycho’ – dancing, maybe singing along, and just generally acting craaaaazy!

“Gotta get jiggy wit it” – Here we come to the crux of the song. Getting ‘jiggy wit it’ is most likely closely related to the aforementioned phrase ‘go psycho’ – Mr. Smith is now, at this juncture in the song, ready to dance and have a good time. However, perhaps negating the ‘jiggyness’ of the dance, it is unlikely that he is actually doing a jig. Mr. Smith’s dancing stylings and movements are not described in detail.

“DKNY all up in my eye” – DKNY, an acronym for Donna Karan New York, is quite the hip fashion label these days! With this lyric, Mr. Smith is suggesting that, to borrow a phrase, a ‘honey’ (slang for an attractive lady) he is ‘getting jiggy with’ is wearing quite a lot of DKNY apparel, and he can’t help but notice the overwhelming presence of it.

“Illway the an-may on the ance-day oor-flay” – A hip, fun use of Pig Latin to sneakily rap the phrase “Will is the man on the dance floor”, suggesting that Mr. Smith is the best on the dance floor.

“What, you want to ball with the kid?” – Possibly a rhetorical question, posed to ‘haters’, which we will get to next, who are disrespecting Mr. Smith. By ‘to ball’, he means “to mess with” or, to play with, to challenge, to cause problems with. He goes on to say, “You might fall tryin’ to do what I did”, suggesting that these challengers are no match for his skills and talents.

“No love for the haters” – ‘Haters’ refers to others who you are not particularly fond of, and vice versa. By suggesting that there will be no love for these people, Mr. Smith means to get across that he is ignoring them, living his life and having fun, despite their disrespect.

“Only mad chicks ride in my whips” – ‘Whips’ refer to sleek, aesthetically pleasing, and possibly extravagant cars, often of the sporty type. By suggesting that only “mad chicks” are allowed to ride in them, Mr. Smith holds a high standard in his passengers, the fellow travelers partaking in a ride in his ‘whip’.

“Since I moved up like George and Wheezy” – A reference to the 70’s television show The Jeffersons. The two main protagonists were George and Louise, who were husband and wife. Louise was affectionately referred to as “Wheezy” by her husband George. The show dealt with their rise in wealth and place in society. The theme song to The Jeffersons mentions “moving on up to the East Side”, from which Mr. Smith constructed this hip lyrical reference to 70’s pop culture.

“Would you like to bounce with a brother that’s platinum?” – Before “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, Mr. Smith also had previous success in the “rap game”, selling many records, eventually going platinum. This lyric asks if you would like to join this “platinum brother”, most likely in celebrating good times.


So there you go. You’re ready to start listening to Will Smith! Word to all of your mothers!