Rest assured, Will Smith will rid the world of aliens again, but first, he’ll perform for them.
While the first single from the “Men in Black 2” soundtrack, “Black Suits Comin’ (Nod Ya Head),” is gaining popularity, Smith deliberately steered clear of the tried-and-true methods of creating a summer hit – heavy samples and big-name cameos – so as not to oversell the song, a Sony Pictures publicist said. But you know Smith, he can’t keep that simplicity up for long. Especially when there’s a video to be shot.
The clip, directed by Francis Lawrence, features Smith, clad in the requisite black suit and Ray-Bans, performing for people around the world as well as creatures throughout the galaxy at the biggest intergalactic space concert of all time. Smith’s son Tre and two astronauts – Guy Bluford, the first black astronaut, and Bernard Harris, the first black man to walk on the moon – are on hand to help Smith out if any trouble should arise. And, with all those E.T.s, you know it will.
Like Smith’s video for the song “Men in Black,” many of the film’s aliens appear in the clip, but this time Smith puts them to work. All the stagehands, security guards and bodyguards are aliens. And the audience/extras in the video look like a group of goth rockers who have a little inbred alien stock sprinkled in their gene pool, according to the publicist.
The best illustration of that is a girl who is crowd surfing, trying to get up to the stage. The security guards try to keep her from getting to Smith, but they soon have another problem as she starts turning into an alien. Her tail knocks Smith’s Ray-Bans off and the crowd goes silent. But a little boy comes to the rescue when he sacrifices his own glasses so the show can resume.
Another scene features Frank the Pug – who you may already know as the gravel-voiced dog singing the disco classic “I Will Survive” in the movie’s trailer – sneaking into the concert while everyone is going through the metal detectors and security checks. He eventually makes his way backstage and, just as the song climaxes, all the lights go out and everything is silent (again). Cut to the mischievous pup, who’s got a plug in his mouth.
“Men in Black 2” is scored by Danny Elfman (“Men in Black”, “Spider-Man”) and the soundtrack features some Esquivel-esque lounge pieces from the film. Also on the LP are the album version of “Black Suits Comin’ (Nod Ya Head)” featuring TRA-Knox, the remix version of the song featuring Christina Vidal (Nickelodeon’s “Taina”), and, of course, Frank the Pug’s cover of “I Will Survive.”
The video for “Black Suits Comin’ (Nod Ya Head)” will premiere on MTV’s “Making the Video” on June 3 at 10 p.m. ET
The “Men in Black 2” soundtrack comes out July 2 and the movie hits theaters the following day.
