"Men in Black" is a song by American rapper and actor Will Smith from the 1997 film of the same name, in which he also played the lead role. The song was released by Columbia Records on June 3, 1997, as the lead single from both the soundtrack and Smith's first solo album, Big Willie Style (1997), and it was Smith's debut solo single following his work with DJ Jazzy Jeff. The accompanying music video was directed by Robert Caruso, featuring Smith dancing with an alien.

The song is heard during the film's closing credits, and heavily samples "Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen. Lyrically, Smith discusses the role, function, and duties of the Men in Black as the character Agent J, while Coko of the R&B group SWV provides the chorus and background vocals. "Men in Black" reached number one in several countries and won Smith a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Rap Solo Performance.

Background

"Men in Black" was produced by production duo Poke and Tone, consisting of Samuel Barnes and Jean-Claude Olivier, for the soundtrack to the 1997 film of the same name. According to the duo, the collaboration originated after Steve Stoute and Tommy Mottola approached them about working with Will Smith, who was transitioning from his earlier rap career into major film roles. The producers were initially reluctant, questioning Smith's musical relevance at the time. In 2017, Billboard ranked "Men in Black" number 100 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of 1997". Pan-European magazine Music & Media said that Smith builds his raps on the song by Rushen "in an instantly appealing way." A reviewer from Music Week gave it three out of five, noting that "Smith raps some rather stodgy sci-fi stuff over Patrice Rushen's 'Forget Me Nots' riff. It will be huge, like the film. And the video is a hoot." Kirstin Watson from Smash Hits gave "Men in Black" a top score of five out of five, saying it "is so cool it'll have you reaching for your black shades pronto. The video features weird alien things dancing along in the chorus line and the former Fresh Prince looking as hot as ever. It's totally rap-tastic and a surefire top three hit!"

Music video

Robert Caruso directed the music video for the song. It starts with a dark hallway lighting up. Tommy Lee Jones enters from around the corner and begins to explain in a voiceover the purpose of the Men in Black. Will Smith enters with the line: "And we dress in black." There is then a cut to what appears to be an alleyway, a steel box which looks a bit like a commercial refrigerator in the middle. The surface begins to deform and show a glowing light from within. The video then cuts to several scenes of Agents experimenting on alien organisms and technology, with Smith rapping into further detail of the operations of the Men in Black. It soon has him surrounded by MIB agents in a warehouse. In the middle of the dance routine, an alien (Mikey from the film) comes in and screams at Smith. Smith then leads the agents and the alien to do a modified Electric Slide, where the alien slips out in the middle.

After dancing along with the agents, he goes after the alien. The same glowing light from the beginning of the video is then seen in the drivers seat of an SUV with the two female Agents who were with Smith in the vehicle; they speed off just as Smith reaches it. Disappointed, he puts on his sunglasses and takes out a Neuralyzer, pointing it at the camera.

Two versions of the video were made alternating the flash. In one version of the video, the flash takes the viewer back to the empty hallway from the opening scene, effectively erasing the video's contents entirely as if ensuring the viewer doesn't remember what they saw in the video, while in the other, the flash produces a white screen. Just before the flash in both, Smith says, somewhat regretfully, "Sorry".

Track listings

Australia

  • CD single
  1. "Men in Black" — 3:48
  2. "Men in Black" (Track Masters instrumental) — 3:48
  3. "Men in Black" (Track Masters a cappella) — 3:29
  4. "Some Cow Fonque (More Tea, Vicar?)" (by Buckshot LeFonque) — 5:10

Europe

  • CD single
  1. "Men in Black" (album version) — 3:48
  2. "Men in Black" (MIB master mix) — 3:40
  • Maxi-CD single
  1. "Men in Black" (album version) — 3:48
  2. "Men in Black" (MIB master mix) — 3:40
  3. "Men in Black" (Track Masters instrumental) — 3:48
  • This format was also released in South Africa.

UK

  • CD1
  1. "Men in Black" (album version)
  2. "Men in Black" (instrumental)
  3. "M.I.B. Main Theme"
  4. "Men in Black" (the snippets)
  • CD2
  1. "Men in Black" (album version)
  2. "Men in Black" (MIB master mix)
  3. "Men in Black" (alternate mix)
  4. "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)" (by Alicia Keys)

Japan

  • Maxi-CD single
  1. "Men in Black" (album version) — 3:48
  2. "Men in Black" (Track Masters instrumental) — 3:48
  3. "Men in Black" (Track Masters a cappella) — 3:29
  4. "Men in Black" (MIB master mix) — 3:40

Personnel

  • Patrice Rushen, Terry McFadden, Will Smith – writers, composers
  • Coko – backing vocals
  • Matthew Wishart – clarinet, trombone
  • Poke and Tone – drum programming, producer
  • Commissioner Gordon, Tony Maserati – mixing
  • John Shriver – recording
  • Paul Griffin – animation director for "Mikey" (video)
  • Rob Chiarelli - recording engineer & remixer

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1997)

!Peak<br/>position

|-

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|-

|-

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|-

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!scope="row"|Denmark (IFPI)

| 2

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

| 1

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Hungary (Mahasz)

| 1

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

| 2

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Italy (Musica e dischi)

| 5

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Poland (Music & Media)

| 6

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

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|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1997)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

| 6

|-

!scope="row"|Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)

| 12

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)

| 16

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)

| 11

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM)

| 23

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)

| 12

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

| 5

|-

!scope="row"|France (SNEP)

| 7

|-

!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control)

| 4

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

| 5

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

| 23

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

| 15

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ)

| 5

|-

!scope="row"|Romania (Romanian Top 100)

| 15

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

| 16

|-

!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 16

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

| 6

|-

!scope="row"|US Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard)

| 22

|-

!scope="row"|US Hot R&B Airplay (Billboard)

| 60

|-

!scope="row"|US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)

| 7

|-

!scope="row"|US Top 40/Mainstream (Billboard)

| 20

|}

Certifications

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|

|-

!scope="row"|United States

|June 3, 1997

|

|rowspan="2"|Columbia

|

|-

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|August 4, 1997

|

|

|-

!scope="row"|Japan

|August 22, 1997

|CD

|Sony

|

|}

References