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Express Tribune
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
'Based on a True Story'- Will Smith releases first album in 20 years
Will Smith has made his highly anticipated return to the music scene with Based on a True Story, his first album in 20 years, released on Friday. The record features notable collaborations and marks his first full-length album since Lost and Found in of the album's release, Smith teased the project with several singles, including "Beautiful Scars" featuring Big Sean, "First Love," "You Can Make It," "Tantrum," and "Work of Art." Based on a True Story also sees Smith reunite with DJ Jazzy Jeff, with additional guest appearances from Teyana Taylor, Joyner Lucas, and Smith's son, Jaden Smith. The album's release comes two decades after Lost and Found, making this a significant moment in Smith's musical career. Smith had signed a distribution deal with Slang Records for the project, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In a teaser video posted to Instagram, Smith shared that the album's creation process was a journey of self-reflection and authenticity. "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," he said. "This is about to be the greatest artistic creative period of my entire life." Smith's personal life has been a focal point in recent years, especially following the infamous slap incident at the 2022 Academy Awards, where he slapped comedian Chris Rock over a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Despite the controversy, Smith remains focused on his career, including announcing an upcoming European tour set to begin this summer. Smith's return to music has stirred anticipation, but it's uncertain how the public will respond after such a long hiatus from his recording career. His new album represents a key chapter in both his musical comeback and personal recovery.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Will Smith is hoping for a comeback with new music, tour: ‘An album won't erase the slap,' expert says
Three years after his infamous slap,' Will Smith is hoping all is forgiven. The actor and rapper will drop his first album in 20 years, Based on a True Story, on March 28. Similar to a TV show, it will roll out in seasons, with the first one titled Rave in the Wasteland (R.I.T.W.), which he's described as a journey of healing, fun and celebration. The 14 tracks aren't called songs. Instead, they're 'episodes' and are a mix of previously released singles ('Beautiful Scars,' 'First Love') and new tracks and include collaborations with DJ Jazzy Jeff, his son Jaden Smith, Teyana Taylor and others. It's probably no accident that the overall vibe — the music (presented with a TV theme), the presence of Jazzy Jeff and the Philadelphia Phillies jacket he's wearing on the album cover — is old-school Smith. After his Oscars meltdown in 2022, when he hit Chris Rock in front of 16.6 million viewers, it seems he's leaning into nostalgia to take people back to a simpler time — his early roots in the entertainment industry, when he shot to stardom on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That is, before he became a major box office star, his marriage was tabloid fodder (the 'entanglement') and the slap. The rollout of Based on a True Story, which will include his first headlining tour in Europe, features many Fresh Prince references. Most notably, he's remade several classic show moments with co-star Tatyana Ali, including a famous dance scene. The cast has stayed friendly and Alfonso Ribeiro remains one of his pals, but promoting a 2025 album with nods to 1995 is a deliberate strategy: Smith is trying to take us back in time. That takes us to his use of social media, which he has leaned on heavily since the slap scandal to reconnect with fans and emphasize his playful side. In recent weeks, the 56-year-old, who has 78.8 million followers on TikTok and 69.6 million on Instagram, teamed up with content creators like Jordan Howlett and 'Lethal Shooter' Chris Matthews and buzzy celebrities like recent Grammy winner Doechii and soccer star Christian Pulisic to create viral moments and perhaps expand his audience (they're all much younger than Smith). He's done less traditional press. Think again if you think Smith is just improvising what he shares on social media — that he's just rolling around Hollywood with an iPhone and selfie stick. In fact, his social media campaign is highly orchestrated; a behind-the-scenes video Ali shared of the making of their 15-second video showed a room full of people participating in the shoot. Hey, it's better than having to talk about the slap over and over on the talk show circuit. But will it win back the fans that Smith — who was once a truly likable star and box office gold — may have alienated? 'The nostalgia campaign screams 'I peaked decades ago,'' Eric Schiffer, a PR expert and chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, told Yahoo Entertainment. 'Fresh Prince is iconic, but leaning on it now feels like Will saying, 'Remember when I was likable?'' Yes, Smith is allowed to move on professionally from the Oscars scandal. He's accepted his punishment and (sort of) apologized. But what is he supposed to do — hide in his $42 million Calabasas, Calif., mansion and practice his signature laugh all day? 'If he wanted redemption, he should've dropped a sincere apology, not a playlist,' Schiffer said. 'An album won't erase the slap — it's like trying to patch a trainwreck with Scotch tape.' Schiffer thinks the public sees through 'TikTok stunts,' saying, 'Virality doesn't equal redemption.' He thinks Smith is 'acting like a TikTok dad who doesn't know when to log off,' which comes off a bit 'out-of-touch.' That said, 'Will's goodwill isn't gone,' said Schiffer. 'It's buried in deep earth under skepticism. Public grace is earned through sustained humility and effort.' Schiffer thinks Smith 'should focus on being a better person instead of tricking people into liking him again. He needs to focus on vulnerability — show growth and humanity beyond the slap. Engage in philanthropy that resonates with his values. Stay away from flashy PR stunts — they feel insincere.' He suggests, 'Stop trying so hard' and 'avoid [using] nostalgia as a crutch.' Smith told Billboard in January that he envisions Based on a True Story as three albums that will be released throughout 2025 — which shows he's confident that people will buy his music. The first, R.I.T.W., is 'about the idea of learning to dance in your darkest moment' with tracks he 'wrote directly after the Oscars.' Part two, tentatively titled The Gift of Madness, is expected in June and the final one is set for release at the end of the year. He told Billboard that he's starting his tour outside the U.S. as a way to get in shape. "My dream is to work my way into a stadium tour. I'll probably do arenas this year and next year to see [if] can I build a big enough, exciting enough show to require a stadium run.' It's a big undertaking for someone who has never headlined a tour. He's been honing his craft though, including doing performances in U.S. venues in recent months. Smith may have laid low after the Oscars debacle, but he's been inching back into the spotlight for some time. In February, he presented at the Grammy Awards and he performed at the BET Awards in June 2024. He's also released two high-profile film projects — 2022's Emancipation and 2024's Bad Boys 2: Ride or Die, which was a huge box office success — and did press for both. But the biggest way he's kept connected with his fans has been through social media — and it's worked. He is one of TikTok's most-followed stars (up over 4 million since January). We'll soon see if those followers become streamers of this album.
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Will Smith announces first album in 20 years, Based on a True Story
Will Smith is to release his first album in 20 years later this month, as the actor continues to rebuild his career following his assault on Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. Writing on Instagram, he said the album Based on a True Story would be released on 28 March, adding: 'Been working on this project for a minute and I'm itchin' to get it out to y'all'. He also shared the tracklist, featuring guest spots from Teyana Taylor, his son Jaden, his longtime musical foil Jazzy Jeff, and more. Smith has released a handful of singles from the project already, including Beautiful Scars (featuring Big Sean and OBanga), Tantrum (featuring Joyner Lucas), Work of Art (featuring Jaden and Russ) and You Can Make It, a gospel-influenced track which he performed at the BET awards in June 2024. Smith has kept a fairly low profile following the Rock incident, in which he slapped the Oscars host and verbally abused him. The incident caused him to be banned from the Academy Awards for 10 years, and Netflix reportedly paused development of Fast and Loose, a film he was set to star in. A film released later in 2022, Emancipation, performed poorly, and Smith – once one of Hollywood's definitive leading men who won a best actor Oscar for King Richard – spent time away from acting. He returned in 2024 with the fourth instalment of the Bad Boys franchise, Ride or Die, which was a commercial success, earning over $400m, considerably more than its $100m budget. The film made reference to Smith's slapping of Rock, and Smith addresses the Oscars incident on the song Beautiful Scars, rapping: 'I hate when I lose it, but I face the music / 'Oh, why did he do it?' See, I'm only human'. In an interview about the song with the lyrics database Genius, he said: 'I hate admitting that I'm only human – my ego wants to be Superman … The word I was thinking about when I thought about the last couple of years of my life was 'brutaful' – brutal and beautiful.' In the interview and on the song, he compares his attitude to kintsugi, the Japanese art of piecing smashed pottery back together, telling Genius: 'I can look at [the Oscars incident] as an absolute mess, horrible, terrible – or I can look at it as a really great kintsugi opportunity, to rebuild something beautiful and powerful.' He added that he wanted the album to set a new bar for his musical artistry, saying: 'I'm a master actor but I've never given myself the opportunity to elevate my poetry, my concepts, to the level of the mastery I've attained as an actor.' Smith may not feel his hip-hop and pop music matches up with his acting, but it was certainly commercially successful. He topped the UK charts with Boom! Shake the Room as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and the duo had another global hit with Summertime, before Smith went solo under his own name for the theme song to his film Men in Black. That was another UK chart-topper, and the first of 10 UK Top 10 singles; his tracks Gettin' Jiggy Wit It and Wild Wild West topped the US singles chart. But following 2005 album Lost and Found, he has released little new music.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Will Smith to release first album in 20 years in a matter of days
Will Smith is set to relaunch his music career in just a few days when his first album in 20 years will be released. In January, the Oscar-winning actor teamed up with Big Sean for the track 'Beautiful Scars'. Smith is now set to release the 10 track record, Based on a True Story, on 28 March. It's the 56-year-old's first album since 2005's Lost and Found. On Instagram, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air star wrote: 'It's OFFICIAL!! My new album Based On A True Story drops March 28. TWO WEEKS!! Hit that presave. Been working on this project for a minute and I'm itchin' to get it out to y'all.' The album also has a subtitle Season 1: RITW which hints that there could be more music to follow. On 'Beautiful Scars', the Men In Black star references his struggles with life in the spotlight and the importance of learning from one's mistakes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith) The music video for the song plays on the classic sci-fi film The Matrix, with Smith (playing Neo, the role made famous by Keanu Reeves) offered either a red pill or a blue pill by Big Sean (Morpheus, originally played by Laurence Fishburne). In 2019, Smith shared a video on his YouTube channel where he said he turned down the role of Neo in 1997 because the pitch from the Wachowski siblings didn't appeal to him. The filmmaking duo apparently tried to pitch Smith on the filmmaking style rather than the plot. Previous singles 'You Can Make It', 'Work of Art' and 'TANTRUM' will all appear on the record, which features guest appearances by DJ Jazzy Jeff, B Simone, Jac Ross, Obanga and Teyana Taylor. Smith has slowly started making tentative steps back into the public spotlight after slapping Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars. He later issued a full apology that said Rock's joke about Pinkett Smith's baldness, a result of alopecia, had been 'too much' for him to bear. 'Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear emotionally,' he said. 'I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. 'There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.'
The Independent
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Will Smith to release first album in 20 years in a matter of days
Will Smith is set to relaunch his music career in just a few days when his first album in 20 years will be released. In January, the Oscar-winning actor teamed up with Big Sean for the track 'Beautiful Scars'. Smith is now set to release the 10 track record, Based on a True Story, on 28 March. It's the 56-year-old's first album since 2005's Lost and Found. On Instagram, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air star wrote: 'It's OFFICIAL!! My new album Based On A True Story drops March 28. TWO WEEKS!! Hit that presave. Been working on this project for a minute and I'm itchin' to get it out to y'all.' The album also has a subtitle Season 1: RITW which hints that there could be more music to follow. On 'Beautiful Scars', the Men In Black star references his struggles with life in the spotlight and the importance of learning from one's mistakes. The music video for the song plays on the classic sci-fi film The Matrix, with Smith (playing Neo, the role made famous by Keanu Reeves) offered either a red pill or a blue pill by Big Sean (Morpheus, originally played by Laurence Fishburne). In 2019, Smith shared a video on his YouTube channel where he said he turned down the role of Neo in 1997 because the pitch from the Wachowski siblings didn't appeal to him. The filmmaking duo apparently tried to pitch Smith on the filmmaking style rather than the plot. Previous singles 'You Can Make It', 'Work of Art' and 'TANTRUM' will all appear on the record, which features guest appearances by DJ Jazzy Jeff, B Simone, Jac Ross, Obanga and Teyana Taylor. Smith has slowly started making tentative steps back into the public spotligh t after slapping Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars. He later issued a full apology that said Rock's joke about Pinkett Smith's baldness, a result of alopecia, had been 'too much' for him to bear. 'Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear emotionally,' he said. 'I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. 'There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.'
