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' (Nod Ya Head)", 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.
Reception Critical AllMusic gave the album a four-star rating.
Commercial Born to Reign debuted at number 13 on the US Billboard 200, selling 60,000 copies in its first week. 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.
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.
Track listing
Notes signifies a co-producer. signifies an additional producer. signifies a vocal producer.
Sample credits "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.
Annas Allaf – guitar , Rhodes , Pro Tools engineer Jerry Allen – additional production Rico Anderson – producer and programming Chandler Bridges – engineer , Pro Tools engineer David Campbell – string arrangements Rob Chiarelli – producer , additional production , bass , guitar , engineer , mixing Luis Conte – percussion Steve Churchyard – strings engineer , percussion engineer Tony Dofat – producer Brandon Duncan – engineer , Pro Tools engineer Ron Feemster – additional production Dominique Fillan – steel drums engineer Bryan Golder – engineer , Pro Tools engineer Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein – DJ scratches Andy Haller – engineer Jerry Hey – horn arrangements Bryon Jones – vocal producer John Kaplan – engineer Tim Kelley – producer, vocal producer, and engineer Mar'Laina Kemp – background vocals Knowledge – additional vocals Abe Laboriel, Jr. – drums L.E.S. – producer Manny Marroquin – mixing Herb Middleton – producer Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards Derek Nakamoto – string arrangements Andy Narell – steel drums Jimane Nelson – co-producer Gregg Pagani – producer Nora Payne – background vocals Poke & Tone – producers Herb Powers Jr. – mastering O.Banga – vocal producer , additional vocals , executive producer Rick Rock – producer Bob Robinson – producer Sauce – producer , vocal producer Dexter Simmons – mixing Jada Pinkett-Smith – featured vocals Will Smith – vocals, producer , executive producer Mark Sparks – producer Kel Spencer – additional vocals Trā-Knox – vocals Christina Vidal – featured vocals Erick Walls – additional production
Charts Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Born to ReignChart (2002)Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 58Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)29Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)10Japanese Albums (Oricon)30
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Born to ReignChart (2002)PeakpositionCanadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)98Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)53
Certifications
References