Remember when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars and the internet exploded? Of course you do, it was one of the most shocking live TV moments in recent memory. Smith just released his first full-length rap album in 20 years, and he decided to address the elephant in the room regarding his career, not once, but multiple times throughout the album.
Will Smith’s fifth studio album, Based On A True Story, just dropped on Friday, and now that we’ve given it a listen, we can confirm the rapper didn’t shy away from referencing the big moment at the Oscars with his latest bars. The album even begins with the words “Will Smith is cancelled” in a song called “Int. Barbershop Day,” where a bunch of voices go back and forth discussing him post-slap. You can check out the song on YouTube below:
Will Smith has previously shared that after the slap happened, he “kooked out” for a couple of years, but suddenly “music started coming out” of him again and he began working on this album. Perhaps that’s why he starts Based On A True Story this way? Some especially notable lyrics in the song are “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” or this one: “Him and Jada both crazy girl, what you talkin’ bout?/ You better keep his wife’s name out of your mouth.”
To be clear, no, Will Smith didn’t have to give his Oscar back, but after the Chris Rock slap, he was banned from the Academy Awards for a decade and he resigned from the Academy as well. In the second track directly after the introduction, the song “You Lookin’ For Me” Smith also gets into the controversy with the words: “Took a lot, I’m back on top, Y’all gon’ have to get acclimated, Won’t stop, my shit still hot, Even though I won’t get nominated.”
In the same song, he also references his marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith with the lines: “Personal life with my wife, mind your business, it’s complicated.” While that does it for direct references to the incident, Will Smith’s new album does offer some insight into his personal struggles and positive mantras with catchy hooks like “I’m bulletproof” and “I make it look easy.”
Since Will Smith’s viral Oscar moment, the actor has released two movies: Apple TV+’s Emancipation and last year’s summer box office hit Bad Boys: Ride Or Die. There are a bunch of upcoming Will Smith movies on the way, like the sequel to I Am Legend and a Plane, Trains And Automobiles movie with Kevin Hart. You can stream Based On A True Story on Spotify or wherever you listen to music now.