Will Smith is addressing his infamous Oscars slap -- and all the baggage that came with it -- head-on on his new album.
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00:00We're gonna start with Will Smith, who is addressing that moment that still clearly is sort of haunting him
00:08The slap of Chris Rock and he is addressing it on his new album
00:13Which just came out it's called Will Smith based on a true story and this song is clearly based on his true story
00:21it's called
00:22interior barbershop day and
00:25It's basically will
00:27Talking about all the things that people have been saying about him for now and it's hard to believe it's been this long but
00:33three years ago
00:35when the slap happened
00:37Everybody had an opinion. Mm-hmm, and he is basically getting all those opinions out in the song
00:44It features DJ Jazzy Jeff and B Simone as well
00:48Here is a little bit of it
00:57He had to give it back. And you know they only made him do that because he's black. Will Smith is wack. I mean he rich, funny, and sexy too. You wish you had a Jada Pinkett next to you. Him and Jada both crazy girl, what you talking about? You better keep his wife's name out of your mouth.
01:12So he did not lose his Oscar. He didn't have to give it back. That is not accurate
01:17But based on what people might be saying
01:20But he has been banned from
01:23Attending the Oscars for a decade after this which clearly is still top of his mind and and it is interesting
01:30It seems like the world hasn't totally moved on from it either when you think about Will Smith
01:35This is the first thing that so many people think of. Right, and I think that's why he
01:39Probably felt like he had to do something about it on the album
01:43Even though I think I do think most people have moved past it
01:47Yes, it is. We always talk about this. If God forbid anything ever happened to Will Smith
01:51What's the first thing that they say about him? Is it the Oscar slap? Is it Fresh Prince? Is it
01:58The fact that he won an Oscar? Yeah
02:01Men in Black. Men in Black. But the slap is pretty up pretty high on the list
02:05I think a lot of people feel at least I feel like as a fan that he hasn't adequately
02:10Addressed it in the past in a real way where he actually
02:15Apologized for what happened where we actually got context of why it happened
02:19And so I was as a fan never really able to move on from it in a way that I would like to
02:25And so that is the first thing I think of I feel like if he would have addressed it more clearly years ago
02:31Maybe we wouldn't be here
02:32But maybe this is the way he feels most comfortable addressing it in his music his first new project in 20 years
02:37You know, the thing that I'd like to hear is how Chris Rock feels about it
02:41I think if Chris Rock says hey, look, I'm I've moved on good rap about it
02:46Say whatever you want to say, but I'm moving out with my life
02:48And I I think then everybody else is free to then move on
02:52He has talked about it a little bit at interviews now, obviously, we've got the song at a certain point
02:58I think just everybody needs to move past this. It was a massive moment
03:01Yeah, it was a mess moment
03:03But Mike, you know why he's doing this is because he has a world tour that he's kicking off now
03:08And
03:11About it about it, right and anything that he says about the slap he knows will get attention
03:17We will mention that he has a world tour coming up. Will you actually hear that song when he's performing? I
03:24Doubt it. I mean one it's sort of it's not really a song. He's rapping an intro song
03:29It's like a bunch of voices. Maybe you'll hear it. You'll play it on the you know, it's not the greatest
03:34I don't know. He's gonna win a grant. I you know, we know the Oscar
03:36Grammy for that one
03:39Yeah, it's not gonna get the crowd up and moving
03:42so it's not one of those but it's to get people talking about it and to
03:46Mention the fact that he's got this tour where you'll hear. Are you interested in the music though?
03:51Do you want to hear new music from Will Smith?
03:53No, and I will say this will and that's not a knock on will but will as a musician is
03:59What we call a legacy act now right where and Katy Perry's in this category, too
04:04People don't want to hear your new songs
04:06They want to hear the classic kids that they grew up with and if they go see you perform
04:10That's all you got to do. Hi, my name is Pete and I'm from DC. I really enjoyed Will's song
04:16I think this is a completely different version of will that we've seen in the past
04:21For me and for a lot of us. I think we held will at this perfect image and over the years
04:27You know, there's been a shift in that image and I think this is Will's version of
04:31Acknowledging that he's not that perfect image that a lot of us had and I think this new version of will is going to be
04:37More honest and a bit more transparent and I'm actually really looking forward to what his album is going to be putting out
04:42I think that's why the slap was such a big deal was because it was so different from that image that we all had
04:50Thought of him right for 20 plus years and then in one second
04:54He erased all of that and left all of us wondering who is this guy, right?
04:59That's part of why I've always wanted him to talk about it more, but maybe this is the start of that. Yeah
05:05Well, we will see and the other thing he didn't address really is what's going on with him and Jane
05:09What is up with that? I don't know. I don't know where they are