Will Smith appears to have taken aim at old foe Chris Rock in a new freestyle.
Appearing on Apple Music’s Fire in the Booth series, the iconic rapper and actor looked to save some choice bars for the comedian who he famously slapped on stage at the 2022 Oscars.
While he doesn’t drop Rock’s name, Smith clearly references the incident, spitting: “If you talking crazy out your face up on the stage and disrespect me on the stage, expect me on the stage.”
He adds: “Jokers dish it out, cry foul when its time to take it / City full of real ones, wasn’t raised to fake it.”
Rock is yet to respond to the lines.
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Smith also addressed the Oscars slap on his comeback album Based on a True Story which was released earlier this year to financial failure having been unable to even chart on the Billboard 200.
The opening track features DJ Jazzy Jeff and B. Simone and is made out to be a barbershop type of convo, where lines like, “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” and, “He’s only still relevant because of his kids,” are sprinkled in.
And on the song “You Lookin’ For Me?” he brings up Jada when he raps: “Personal life with my wife – mind your business, it’s complicated.”
During a live interview with Sway in the Morning held in his hometown of Philadelphia, Will Smith revealed that he phoned two people — JAY-Z and Kendrick Lamar — for advice before recording the new album.
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According to Smith, his conversation with the Roc Nation mogul was so impactful that it inspired the name of the album.
“I was like, ‘Hey, I want to get back in music.’ Jay said like, ‘Don’t fake your story.’ He was like, ‘You gotta say what’s true for you,’” he recalled.
“And he says, ‘You’ll be looking at the younger rappers and you want that to be true for you, but you don’t live like that.’ It was like, ‘Be true to your story. Tell your story.’ And that’s where I got the Based on a True Story, from Jay.”
