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Born to Reign is the third studio album released by American actor and rapper Will Smith. The album was released on Columbia Records in the United States on June 25, 2002 and was considered a drop from his previous level of success, having only reached Gold status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), whereas Big Willie Style and Willennium both reached multi-platinum status. This album includes "Black Suits Comin'", which was also the lead single from the original motion picture soundtrack of Men in Black II. The album also spawned the European hit single "1000 Kisses", which features vocals from Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Born to Reign
Studio album by Will Smith
Released	June 25, 2002
Recorded	2000–02
Genre	Hip hop
Length	57:12
Label	Columbia
Producer	Tim & Bob, L.E.S., Jerry Allen, Rico Anderson, Rob Chiarelli, Tony Dofat, Ron Feemster, Herb Middleton, Jimane Nelson, Gregg Pagani, Poke, Rick Rock, Mark Sparks
Will Smith chronology
Willennium (1999) Born to Reign (2002) Greatest Hits (2002)
Singles from Born to Reign
"Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" Released: June 11, 2002 "1000 Kisses" Released: December 23, 2002

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[3]
The Guardian	[4]
Q	[5]
RapReviews	(7.5/10)[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Slant Magazine	[8]
USA Today	[9]

Reception

Critical

AllMusic gave the album a four-star rating, claiming:

"It'd be inaccurate to call Will Smith's third album the musical equivalent of Ali -- a bid for artistic credibility from an artist so assured and smooth, it's been easy to pigeonhole him as merely a pop artist -- but given the range and harder edge on Born to Reign, it's hard not to think of it at first. Make no mistake, this is not as serious as Ali, nor is it a record whose first intent is to enlighten and educate. It's a fun, pop-leaning record, much like his first two records, and never is it afraid to return to the sounds and styles that brought the former Fresh Prince big hits, but among comfortably familiar jams, Smith stretches his legs. Some of the hip-hop hits harder; there's a touch of reggae; he even appropriates a bit of a Ricky Martin vibe on "I Can't Stop.

It's a small but significant change, and while it doesn't result in a record that flows as effortlessly, or giddily, as Willennium, it's easy to appreciate the effort to stretch, because even if all the experiments aren't necessarily successful, however, sometimes, the idea is better than the execution, it does reinvigorate the Smith signature pop-rap sound, apart, oddly, from the theme for Men in Black 2, "Black Suits Comin'," the only cut in this vein to fall flat, and results in another solid record from Smith. Maybe not as consistent as its predecessors, but still enjoyable in its familiar turf, while provoking admiration for its ambition, even when it's not always satisfying. Not a bad way to stretch."[1]

Commercial

Born to Reign debuted at number 13 on the US Billboard 200, selling 60,000 copies in its first week.[10] On July 26, 2002 the album has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As of April 2005, the album sold 237,000 copies in the US.[10]

Controversy

The album was released as a copy-protected disc, which reportedly not only prevented the contents of the disc from being copied, but froze users' computers after they attempted to listen to it via their CD-ROM drives. This resulted in complaints of lost computer files due to the album's protection element.[1]

Track listing

Notes[11]

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer.
• ^{^[c]} signifies a vocal producer.

Sample credits[11]

• "Act Like You Know" - Contains a sample of "Trans-Europe Express" by Kraftwerk
• "I Can't Stop" - Contains a sample of "A Tu Vera" by Manitas de Plata
• "1,000 Kisses" - Contains samples of "Never Too Much" by Luther Vandross and "Future Now" by Pleasure
• "Willow Is a Player" - Contains a sample of "Love Gonna Pack Up (and Walk Out)" by The Persuaders
• "How da Beat Goes" - Contains a sample of "Jam on It" by Newcleus
• "Block Party" - Contains samples of "Family Affair" by Sly and the Family Stone and "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
• "Give Me Tonite" - Contains a sample of "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams

Personnel

Personnel credits adapted from liner notes.[11]

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Born to Reign

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12]	58
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13]	20
French Albums (SNEP)[14]	61
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15]	19
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16]	39
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17]	17
UK Albums (OCC)[18]	24
US Billboard 200[19]	13
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[20]	13

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Born to Reign

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[21]	98
Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[22]	53

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[23]	Gold	237,000[10]

References

На других языках

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- [en] Born to Reign

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[es] Born to Reign

Born to Reign es el nombre del tercer álbum de estudio en solitario lanzado por Will Smith. El álbum fue lanzado bajo el sello discográfico Columbia Records en Estados Unidos el 25 de junio de 2002, y se consideró un descenso respecto a su anterior disco que fue un éxito, ya que este sólo alcanzó el disco de oro por la RIAA, mientras que el Big Willie Style y Willennium llegaron a multiplatinum. El álbum de Smith del 2005, Lost and Found.

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