After the disappointingly unevenAnd in This Corner..., DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince restarted their commercial momentum with Homebase, which fittedWill Smith's rhymes with up-to-date, radio-friendly production and a much richer overall sound. For the first time, the album's keysinglewasn't a comic narrative: "Summertime" was a warm, breezy reminiscence about growing up in Philadelphia and attendingbarbecues where the whole community showed up to see and be seen. It had all the good vibes of a typicalFresh Princenumber, but it was clearly a more mature effort, and that's Homebase in a nutshell. The smoothed-out R&B background of"Summertime" provides a template for the record's poppier moments, and there's a thumping new club influence on thedancefloor cuts. Lyrically, when he's not trying to move your butt,Smithpaints himself as more of a ladies' man, in keeping with his new young-adult persona. If he's still more innocent thanLL Cool J, he's throwing out all his best lines on the single "Ring My Bell" and trying to play the field on "A Dog Is a Dog." And there are afew story songs, like "Who Stole the DJ" and "You Saw My Blinker," that benefit from the fresher-sounding beats. While it doesn'thave the youthful, old-school charm ofHe's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, Homebase is a successful reinvention that laid the groundwork forSmith's multimedia stardom as an adult.