Will Smith poses in an all black look at the 2025 Grammys
Will Smith is all smiles at the 2025 Grammys.
Entertain This!
“Will Smith is canceled?!”
Smith’s new album “Based on a True Story” (out now) opens with a barbershop skit mocking debates and social media chatter about everything from his shocking slap of Chris Rock to his “crazy” family and “complicated” relationship with wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Him and Jada both crazy, girl. What you talking about?” a hater mocked by Smith says to a faux fan played by comedian B. Simone. “You better keep his wife’s name out of your mouth,” says another detractor. Another adds: “He gon’ drop a new record like we all gon’ forget. You need to take another year and untangle some (stuff).”
At 56 – and 20 years out of the rap game – Smith is clearly having fun with it. On the project’s second track, “You Lookin’ For Me?” he shouts out his wife (“Jada got my DMs hot with bodies”) before telling people to “mind your business” about his personal life. He follows the braggadocious, fast-paced rap with a commanding, drawling pastor interlude, a character that makes regular appearances throughout the 14-track album.
Will Smith ‘Based on a True Story’ album: Listen
The “Summertime” rapper mixes his hip-hop sensibilities (he is the first rapper to win a Grammy, after all, a fact he notes multiple times) with eclectic influences, from trap and neo-soul to flamenco, Afrobeats and gospel.
Big Sean and Joyner Lucas complement Smith well, inspiring him to deliver some of his best raps on last summer’s “Beautiful Scars” and “Tantrum,” respectively. Teyana Taylor sings on standout “Hard Times (Smile),” a feel-good track with a Motown-inspired groove. Other feature records include the previously released “Work of Art” with Russ and son Jaden, and “First Love,” previously released and performed at the 2025 Premio Lo Nuestro awards with Spanish singer India Martínez.
When the Fresh Prince announced his return to music last June, he did so on the 2024 BET Awards stage with “You Can Make It,” teaming up with Fridayy and the Ye-distanced Sunday Service Choir for a Kirk Franklin-inspired call-and-response gospel record.
Despite the album’s brash opening, spiritual themes of hardship and retribution are still throughout the album. In Smith’s sermons, he gives a glimpse into his emotional mindset post-slap and offers a word of encouragement.
“You do not have to be perfect to deserve love,” he says. “In all your conflicting beauty, you are a work of art.”
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