Will Smith - Just The Two Of Us

JUL 01 1998 · 12:00

Will Smith - Just The Two Of Us (1998) Director: Bob Giraldi Era: Late-90s Pop-Rap Golden Age (1998) - Peak crossover era when hip-hop artists dominated mainstream pop charts and MTV, characterized by high-budget narrative-concept videos blending celebrity lifestyle with emotional sincerity High curatorial value as a documented cultural artifact representing a pivotal counter-narrative moment in late-90s hip-hop: a commercially dominant rap artist deploying a warm, family-centered visual language at the height of an era defined by harder aesthetics. Directed by Bob Giraldi, one of the most significant music video directors of the MTV era, responsible for 'Beat It' and 'Love Is a Battlefield', the video carries dual significance as both a cultural statement on Black fatherhood and a late-career prestige commission for a director who helped define the medium. The rapid-edit documentary-performance hybrid structure, warm color palette, and celebrity ensemble casting make it a technically and culturally distinctive artifact of the 1998 MTV landscape. Context: Released July 1998 as the fourth single from Big Willie Style, 'Just the Two of Us' arrived at the apex of Will Smith's crossover dominance and during a period in which mainstream hip-hop was largely defined by hyper-masculine posturing. The video's warm-palette, rapid-montage documentary approach to Black fatherhood, intercutting Smith's own family with celebrity fathers, constituted a rare and deliberate counter-narrative. As documented by Revolt.tv, the visuals captured everyday joy and vulnerability in Black fatherhood that was a rarity in mainstream media at the time. The song samples Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr.'s classic, repositioning a romantic standard as a paternal ode, reinforcing the video's cross-generational, cross-cultural appeal. The track reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 in the UK. Director notes: Confirmed directed by Bob Giraldi per Wikipedia, IMDb (tt7263408), IMVDb, and Revolt.tv. The video begins with Will Smith and his son Trey on a studio lot, then intercutting performance footage with documentary-style segments of fathers and children. The celebrity fathers featured in the video, per Wikipedia, include Babyface, Montell Jordan, James Lassiter, Keenen Wayans, Brian McKnight, Magic Johnson, and Muhammad Ali. Per Wikipedia, the video also features Jada Pinkett Smith pregnant with Jaden, and Will's father, younger brother, and two sisters. Per IMVDb, running length is 4:31. Released June/July 1998 on Columbia Records for the album Big Willie Style. The video won Will Smith an MTV VMA for Best Male Video.