Will Smith has returned to music with his latest album, “Based on a True Story”, his first in two decades.
The album directly addresses the 2022 Oscars incident where Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage.
On the track “You Lookin’ For Me?”, Smith confronts the aftermath of slapping comedian Chris Rock on stage during the Academy Awards.
“Took a lot, I’m back on top, y’all gon’ have to get acclimated / Won’t stop, my s–t’s still hot even though I won’t get nominated,” he raps, before adding, “Personal life with my wife, mind your business, it’s complicated.”
The album also includes interludes mimicking public conversations around the controversy, with voices debating Smith’s actions and the public response.
“I heard he won the Oscar, but he had to give it back,” one voice says.
Another adds, “You better keep his wife’s name out of your mouth,” referencing Rock’s original joke that sparked the altercation.
The latest album seems to focus on themes of cancellation and redemption, showing Smith as someone dealing with the aftermath of public backlash.
But even though he looks like he’s trying to take control of his story, a lot of people online still aren’t convinced.
Social media and Reddit users were divided, with several suggesting the music feels more like damage control than genuine expression.
“It seems like he only made it to try and clean up his image,” one user wrote.
A second user wrote, “Everything is very generic, even the bad parts of this album are what you’d expect to be bad. It has a lot of the same issues that you experience with rappers that are generally labeled as “corny”.
Others took issue with the tone of the music itself. “Will doesn’t really seem like he’s capable of examining [love] deeply,” said one commenter in reference to the track “First Love”.
Another one chimed in, “Everything Smith does sounds off.”
“It’s like he is only making stylistic choices if it’s something popular, and doesn’t understand why it was good in the first place, so he just ends up pulling it off poorly.”
Summing up the general consensus, one viral comment reads, “Unlike Will Smith — this does not slap.”
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