Intro music by: Gail Nobles
Photo credit: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA -
Usage: CC BY-SA 2.0/ Wikipedia

During the time I first heard Will Smith, everybody was rapping back in the 80’s. The radio played a remix of rappers. And when I heard Will Smith’s “Girl’s In the World Ain’t Nothing But Trouble”, I was lost in the story. It was the original 1986 version. Any time a rap song makes you listen, it’s saying something, and Will Smith is a great story telling rapper. That’s the first thing I noticed when I first heard him rap.

Not only that, but I was amazed at Will’s DJ. DJ Jazzy Jeff. I said to myself, “How in the world did he mix jazz with rap? How did he think of that? That’s a unique sound with the beat of a hip hop drum. It sounds just right.” I thought, “Ain’t nobody got that style. Not in rap music.”

Back in the days of the 80’s when rap music was really strong, I said , “I’m going to write Will Smith and his DJ. I’ve got to tell them what I think of their music.” I guess I was about 15.

My mom saw me writing and asked, “Who you writing?”
She didn’t care much about rap music like she did when it first came out. And even if a person was famous, she thought I needed to be careful. That’s just the way my mother was. She saw famous people as people, and she was right. So when my mom asked who I was writing, she knew what I was about to do. And I said, “ Nobody, ma.” I just balled the paper up.

My mom really didn’t care about me writing, but she always made me second guess. She wanted me to think before doing something, and I didn’t think. Not the way she did. Especially, after seeing Will Smith in a picture walking along with one of my classmates at a mall. I was sick. To me, Will was just a friendly guy, and I didn’t know him.

As the years passed, me and my mom had heard on television that Will was going to try out for the Muhammad Ali movie. My mom said, “I know he’s not going to play as Muhammad Ali. He better do a real good job if he’s going to play him.” My mom was on her sick bed at the time.

I thought to myself, “Muhammad Ali was always rhyming and bragging. That’s not hard for Will Smith to do. Some things are already in Will to act out.” You see, I believed in him though he appeared as just comedy.

The Ali movie came out in 2001. That’s the year my mom had passed away. Will Smith had done an awesome job acting as Muhammad Ali. I went to the theater to see the movie., and I was a little sad because my mom didn’t get to see the movie with me. I said to myself, “Mom, Will Smith has done it. He has done a great job.”

In a spiritual sense, I could hear my mom say, “I saw him.”

I left the theater thinking not only is Will Smith a great story telling rapper, but a great actor too.

I’m Gail Nobles. You’re listening to Lounge Hype. Tune in again next time for another story.