"Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" is a song by

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and actor

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

. The song was a part of the film ''

Men in Black II ''Men in Black II'' (stylized as ''MIIB'') is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film based on the Marvel Comics series of a similar name based on the conspiracy theory. Produced by Columbia Pictures and Amblin Entertainment in ass ...

'''s soundtrack and the first single on Smith's album ''

Born to Reign ''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 o ...

''.

Background

The song was written for the 2002

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

action-comedy film ''Men in Black II'', in which Smith portrays

Agent J Agent J (usually called J), born James Darrell Edwards III, is one of the two protagonists of the ''Men in Black'' film series. Born October 19, 1965, Jay is an agent of the MIB, recruited by Agent K. He is energetic and tries to bring life and ...

. The song was released as a single from the ''Men in Black II'' soundtrack on May 13, 2002. The single reached number 77 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but was more successful in the UK, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart. The song features vocals from Trā-Knox, who performs part of the hook in the chorus. In 2017,

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...

guitarist

Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and backing vocalist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock band Black Light Burn ...

revealed that he had been approached by Smith to help compose the theme for ''Men In Black II'', but he turned down the offer.

Music video

The music video for "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" features footage of Smith performing onstage in a ''Men in Black II'' environment, featuring characters and footage from the movie. It is notable that a scene that was deleted from the final cut of the film appears in a montage sequence in the video. Smith's oldest son, Trey, and actress

Meagan Good Meagan Monique Good (born August 8, 1981) is an American actress and model. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film '' Eve's Bayou'' (1997) prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom '' Cousin Skeeter'' (199 ...

make cameos. The video was

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

Francis Lawrence Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thriller ''Constantine ...

, produced by Joseph Sassone and first aired on the June 3, 2002, episode of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

show ''

Making the Video ''Making the Video'' is an MTV show consisting of half-hour episodes chronicling the process of filming various music videos. Usually the director outlines the concept of the video (or treatment) and the show often includes light-hearted and h ...

''.

Track listings

* US 12-inch single :A1. "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (radio edit) – 3:50 :A2. "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (album version) – 4:20 :A3. "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (instrumental) – 4:21 :B1. "Nod Ya Head" – 3:45 :B2. "MIB2 Remix" – 3:45 :B3. "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (a cappella) – 4:06 * UK CD1 # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (radio edit) – 3:50 # "Nod Ya Head" – 3:45 # "MIB2 Remix" (album version) – 3:45 * UK CD2 # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (album version) – 4:20 # "

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in dark suits, who question, interrogate, harass, and threaten unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have ...

" (album version) – 3:47 # "

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

" (album version) – 3:18 * UK cassette single # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (radio edit) – 3:50 # "Men in Black" (album version) – 3:47 * European CD1 # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (album version) – 4:20 # "MIB2 Remix" (album version) – 3:45 * European CD2 # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (album version) – 4:20 # "MIB2 Remix" (album version) – 3:45 # "Nod Ya Head" – 3:45 # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (instrumental) – 4:21 * European 12-inch single :A1. "MIB2 Remix" (album version) – 3:45 :A2. "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (album version) – 4:20 :B1. "Nod Ya Head" – 3:45 :B2. "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (instrumental) – 4:21 * Australian CD single # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (radio edit) – 3:50 # "Nod Ya Head" – 3:45 # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (album version) – 4:20 # "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (instrumental) – 4:21

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

, mixing * Mark Sparks – production *

Rob Chiarelli Rob Chiarelli (born January 13, 1963) is an American record producer, mix engineer, musician, published author and multiple Grammy Award winner. Widely recognized as a music producer for Will Smith and ''Men in Black II'' (2002), Chiarelli's work ...

– production, mixing,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Neff-U – additional production * Lance Bennett - Writing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2001 songs 2002 singles Columbia Records singles Music videos directed by Francis Lawrence Songs from Men in Black (franchise) Songs written by Theron Feemster Songs written by Will Smith Songs written for films Will Smith songs