Over the weekend, Will Smith posted a video of himself doing the “Anxiety Dance” with Tatyana Ali and Doechii. If you aren’t familiar with the Anxiety Dance, it’s a TikTok trend where people do the dance from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to a clip of Doechii’s “Anxiety,” which samples the melody from Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” It was started by a TikToker named Mimiola Olatunji.
Anyway, Tatyana, Will, and Doechii recreated the famous scene where Will catches Ashley dancing while wearing headphones and dances along with her. Obviously, the clip went viral. And, now that Will has everyone’s attention, he’s announced that he’s dropping a new hip hop album for the first time in 20 years! Based on a True Story has 14 new tracks and will be out in two weeks, on March 28.
Will Smith has announced the date that his latest album will be released as his imminent return to the world of hip-hop continues after a 20-year hiatus. The actor-rapper-producer shared the news on Instagram on Sunday, writing in a post that his new album is scheduled for release in two weeks.
“It’s OFFICIAL!! My new album, Based on a True Story, drops on 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 🫶
,” Smith posted on the social media platform to his 69.5 million followers. The 14-track album will reunite Smith with DJ Jazzy Jeff and feature collaborations with Teyana Taylor and Jac Ross. Smith released a single, “Beautiful Scars,” that features Big Sean and Obangain, in January.
The iconic comic and dramatic actor, and an Oscar winner for 2021’s King Richard, Smith has risen to the level of a multi-hyphenate pop culture phenomenon over his career, which began with rap music. He emerged from the fledgling hip-hop scene in the late 1980s as half of the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince with instant classics like “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and “Girls Ain’t Nothing but Trouble,” both of which came with videos that enjoyed heavy MTV rotation.
Smith’s long-running hit NBC sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, featured his rapping, and as his Hollywood career took off, his music career flourished in tandem. At times, his franchise and Hollywood blockbuster movies, including Wild Wild West and Men in Black, featured a title track from Smith. His hip-hop career hit a peak with 1997’s Big Willie Style; he released three more records, Willennium (1999), Born to Reign (2002) and Lost and Found (2005), before putting down the mic to focus on his career in film as an actor and producer.
As an icon of entertainment for the last several decades, Smith is still, for many, rehabilitating his reputation after the shocking moment at the 2022 Academy Awards. This notorious Oscars moment saw the actor walk onstage and slap Chris Rock across the face following a joke the comedian made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. The fallout of that moment tarnished Smith’s reputation and led to him being banned from the Oscars for 10 years.
Thoughts on Will coming out with a new album? Other than Emancipation and last year’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, he’s been laying relatively low since the Oscars slap, so it makes sense that his reemergence is a pivot back to music. I’m an Elder Millennial, so Fresh Prince, Men in Black, and Will’s first three albums all happened when I was in middle school thru high school. It’s cool, but also not surprising at all that he’s working with Jazzy Jeff again. Clearly, they work well together. When Will released “Beautiful Scars” a few months ago, I just figured he was using music to work through some things. It never occurred to me that he was recording a whole new album. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think this type of comeback will be well-received. Enough time has passed and he’s going through a different door.
Will also announced a world tour on Monday. It kicks off this summer with dates in Europe and the UK. Presale begins on Wednesday, March 19 and general sales are on Friday, March 21. Interesting! Alright, Mr. Smith. I’m intrigued.
Photos credit: Seth Browarnik/INSTARimages, Getty and via Instagram