“Men in Black” is a song by American rapper and actor Will Smith from the 1997 film Men in Black, in which he also starred. The song was released by Columbia Records on June 3, 1997, as the lead single from both the Men in Black soundtrack and Smith’s debut solo album Big Willie Style (1997), and was his first solo single following his work with DJ Jazzy Jeff. The song plays during the movie’s closing credits and samples “Forget Me Nots” by Patrice Rushen. It features Smith rapping about how the Men in Black “Walk in shadow, move in silence” and play the role of “first, last and only line of defense, against the worst scum of the universe”, while SWV singer Coko sings the chorus and background vocals. “Men in Black” reached number one in several countries and won Smith a Grammy Award in 1998 for the Best Rap Solo Performance.
“Forget Me Nots” is a 1982 song co-written and performed by American R&B musician Patrice Rushen. It appears on her seventh album, Straight from the Heart. Making a radical shift in her music, Rushen would continue to harness the particular style of this record all through to her next album Now, released in 1984.