The reviews are in and Will Smith x DJ Jazzy Jeff‘s “Get Lit” is most definitely not lit…
Deep down, we all cling to the hope that the once Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was coming from an authentic place when he made the track, but even if that’s true, it didn’t translate well. “Get Lit” has turned out to be the most generic and unlistenable release of the year with no other contenders in sight.
What’s been described as “dad-like,” “cookie-cutter EDM” and a “total absurdity” is getting ripped apart by music critics across the board. It stings like salt in a deep cut on our hearts — wounds caused because we know the greatness heard with Big Willie Style might not ever make a comeback.
Smith recently revealed he has 30 more tracks with Jazzy Jeff — so let’s hope they can redeem themselves.
“Get Lit” Gets Absolutely Savage Reviews Across the Board
“[Get Lit] is pretty cookie-cutter EDM as far as arrangement and production. It’s got some heavy kicks and staggered synth stabs, with a typical hook in “get lit”… honestly, the song could have been good if Smith and Jazzy Jeff put some more sincere effort into it. As it stands, it really just seems like a bandwagon song with them trying to get some street cred with the young kids.” – Matt Meadow, Your EDM
“It was endearing when Smith rapped about how parents just don’t understand in 1988, but in 2017, hearing a 49-year-old talk about getting ‘lit’ comes off as a Steve Buscemi, ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’ moment.” – Derrick Rossignol, Uproxx
“The Wild Wild West movie of Will Smith singles – a frankly f**king mental genre leap that’s actually kinda fascinatingly s**t, rather than the Collateral Beauty of Will Smith singles (just plain sh**). Jaden needs a better password on his laptop, because I am one billion per cent his dad, in actual Yer Da mode, raided his Tidal (Jaden is definitely a Tidal guy), found the playlist titled ‘Major Lazer is doooope!!!!!!!!’ then searched his Facebook inbox for hip young phrases-cum-song titles.” – Al Horner, Fact Mag
“The real tragedy here is not that the song is bad, which it is. It’s that Smith may be attempting to relive his younger days by updating his party raps and adopting what he thinks the kids will embrace. He doesn’t need to do this, is the weird part, as he definitely doesn’t require the cash nor does he need the cultural cache. What we have is just a man flailing needlessly against the riptide of time.” – Phil Witmer, Noisey
“The total absurdity of Get Lit renders it not only hilarious, but, in a way, the most profound music Will Smith has ever made. Its vacancy is so pure that it verges on the existential, the mystical – perhaps even the divine, for only a god could be capable of such perfect lack of meaning.” – Frank Guan, Vulture
“Christ. You know it’s bad if I, a dad, think something is too dad-like. Was this mixed inside a tractor engine? Join us next week when Will drops his next three songs, Woke AF, YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, and [prayer emoji].” – Drew Magary, GQ
“It’s official. ‘Lit’ is no more. Not when old man Will Smith is building sh**ty, deafening EDM songs around the millennial buzzword.” – Randall Colburn, Consequences of Sound
“It’s not as desperate as MC Hammer suddenly going gangster, or as out of left field as Bob Dylan rapping with Kurtis Blow, but it’s pretty close to your dad turning up Look What You Made Made Do and doing the Dougie in front of your friends at your bar mitzvah.” – Alex McLevy, AV Club
Source: NZ Herald | Photo via Livewire Festival
