Will Smith Addresses Chris Rock Oscars Slap On ‘Based On a True Story,’ His First Album in 20 Years
Will Smith is aware of the elephant in the room, as the very first line on his first album in 20 years quickly addresses the infamous 2022 Oscars slap where Smith took the stage and hit Chris Rock.
The rapper-turned-actor released Based On a True Story, his first album since 2005, on Friday. The album opens with “Int. Barbershop,” meant to evoke a free-flowing conversation between several people gossiping about Smith, and it starts with the declaration “Will Smith is canceled.”
“Who the fuck Will Smith think he is,” Smith raps. “And that boy damn crazy, how he raisin’ them kids. Yes he is, and I’m never gonna forgive him for the shit he did.” The song gets more specific with the lines “I heard he won the Oscar but he had to give it back, and you know they only made him do that shit because he’s Black.”
Smith cheekily references the infamous declaration he made to Rock on stage after the slap a few more lines down on the song, as one voice says “him and Jada crazy, girl, what you talkin’ about,” while another voice responds “you better keep his wife’s name out of your mouth,” with the beat briefly halting for emphasis.
On the next song, “You Lookin’ For Me,” Smith briefly addresses the controversy again, rapping that “won’t stop, my shit still hot, even though I won’t get nominated.”
Smith had preempted the new album with the singles “Beautiful Scars” with Big Sean, “First Love,” You Can Make It,” “Tantrum,” and “Work of Art.” The album comes almost exactly 20 years ago to the day from when Smith released his last album Lost and Found. Based On a True Story reunited Smith with DJ Jazzy Jeff and also features collaborations with Teyana Taylor, Joyner Lucas and Smith’s son Jaden Smith. As The Hollywood Reporter reported last year, Smith signed a distribution deal with indie label Slang Records for the project.
“The past couple of years, I’ve been doing a very deep exploration of who and what I truly am,” Smith said in a teaser video Smith posted on his Instagram hours ahead of his official release on Thursday. “The process of this album is really allowing myself to be more honest with myself than I ever have about who and what I actually am. This is about to be the greatest artistic creative period of my entire life.”
Smith announced an overseas tour earlier this month that will take Smith through much of Europe starting later this summer. It’s unclear what the demand for the new music will be given just how long it’s been since Smith has been a full-time recording artist. Speaking on Sway in the Morning on Thursday, Smith recalled advice he got from Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar on recording the project.
“‘You gotta say what’s true for you and you’ll be looking at the younger rappers and you’ll want that to be true to you, but you don’t live like that,’” Smith revealed Jay told him. “‘Be true to your story. Tell your story.’ And that’s where I got the ‘Based on a True Story,’ from Jay.”
Source: Hollywoodreporter
