“Wild Wild West” is the fourth installment of what might be the most commercially successful run of five singles any one artist has ever released. In a little under two years, The Fresh Prince gave us the following gems:
1) “Gettin Jiggy Wit It” (January 1998)
2) “Just The Two Of Us” (July 1998)
3) “Miami” (November 1998)
4) “Wild Wild West” (May 1999)
5) “Will 2k” (November 1999)
Okay, so we might be missing Agent J's anthem. But still, wow! Love him or hate him, there is definitely one thing we can say about Captain Steven Hiller: He made the lives of middle school dance DJ’s really damn easy. Detective Mike Lowrey was a hit machine. We’ll be highlighting a lot of different artists over this series, and all of them (well, maybe not Eminem) were trying to supplant Bagger Vance as pop music’s most reliable artist.
When compared to most of Hancock’s catalogue, “Wild Wild West” is actually a pretty quotidian effort from Dr. Robert Neville. It doesn’t have the cultural impact of “Getting’ Jiggy With It” or “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” Yet it’s not a total trainwreck like “Switch” or a lesson in narcissism like “Freakin’ It.” For a lesser artist, “Wild Wild West” is truly memorable. For Alex Hitchens, it’s just another big, fat, hulking paycheck.
“Wild Wild West” holds out surprisingly well, in that “I’m not ashamed to like it because everyone liked it” kind of way. Admit it, if all I told you was, “You don’t want to see my hand where my hip be at,” you would know precisely what I was talking about. And Sisqo sings the chorus, which was pretty cool at the time.
As for the actual movie Wild Wild West? That does not hold up so well. The thing is unwatchable. Fortunately, moviegoers eager to see some hilariously ridiculous robotic villains are in luck. Transformers II (and all its Michael Bayhem) comes out in two days!
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.