"Wild Wild West" is the title of a hip hop song written by
Will Smith as the theme song for Smith's film of the same name.
The song also appears on Smith's 1999 album,
Willenium. Will Smith's 1999 release was recorded
specifically for Smith's planned summer blockbuster movie,
Wild Wild West. Smith's song became a number-one pop hit
on the Billboard Hot 100, and its extended music video,
directed by Paul Hunter, was a hit on MTV. Will Smith's "Wild
Wild West" single samples Stevie Wonder's song "I Wish", with
parts of the chorus from Kool Moe Dee's song of the same name
as well. Kool Moe Dee re-performs that chorus for the song,
with additional guest vocals from R&B group Dru Hill. The
album version of the song also features, as an introduction, a
brief spoken word conversation between Will Smith and his son
Jaden Smith in which Will asks his son what song he should
perform next, and Jaden suggests this one.
The high-profile music video for the single, running seven
minutes and including several dialog sequences, featured Smith,
Kool Moe Dee, Dru Hill, and guest appearances from Stevie
Wonder, and, as their
Wild Wild Westcharacters Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek and
Kenneth Branagh. Fellow popstar Enrique Iglesias also appeared
in the video playing a Prince. Moreoever,
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Airco-star and tap dancer
Alfonso Ribeiro appeared in the music video as one of the
dancers. Other cameos include actor Larenz Tate, Shari Headley,
singer/writer/producer Babyface, and female rapper MC Lyte. The
"Wild Wild West" video notably was a star-making vehicle for
Dru Hill lead singer Sisqó, while relegating the other three
members of the quartet to the background. Dru Hill member James
"Woody" Green quit the group on the set of the video, feeling a
need to return to his gospel music roots.
Despite its pop success, the song was criticized for both
sampling Wonder's song and for its incongruity with the western
for which it serves as the theme. It won the Golden Raspberry
Award for Worst "Original" Song of 1999. An "unreleased" remix
of this song, said to be remixed by Jason Nevins, is available
through file-sharing programs. In an episode of
South Park, Eric Cartman sings a parody of "Wild Wild
West".