Will Smith, Lil Durk, Bow Wow, Chris Brown, And More

Will Smith – ‘Based on A True Story’

A lot has changed in recent years for Will Smith, as the legendary entertainer has endured both trials of tribulation and moments of triumph.

Back in 2022, on the same evening he took home the Oscar Award for Best Actor, he delivered the slap heard and seen around the world, a move that thrust him into the vortex of public scrutiny.

Many questioned whether he would ever be able to bounce back and gain some semblance of the pristine public persona he once held.

Others, consumed with the inner-workings of his home life, wondered if the talent many had come to know and love had devolved into a shell of himself due to his personal woes.

Emerging on the other side of the fire like a phoenix, Smith addresses all elephants in the room on Based on a True Story, the 56-year-old’s new studio album that finds the multihyphenate returning back to his roots as an emcee. Released almost 20 years after the exact date his last studio album, Lost and Found.

On the album intro, “Int. Barbershop – Day,” Will addresses the chatter surrounding his controversial moments, a foreshadowing of the Philly native’s willingness to lay all his cards out on the table.

This is evidenced on the boom-bap enthused follow-up “Looking For Me,” as Smith coyly references the speculation regarding marital affairs between he and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith

Led by the preceding singles “Beautiful Scars,” “TANTRUM,” “First Love,” “You Can Make It,” and “Work of Art,” Based on a True Story has its occasional campy inclusions (“Rave In The Wasteland”), but overall, is an applaudable effort giving its author’s two-decade layoff.

Powered by the highlights “Bulletproof,” “Hard Times (Smile)” featuring Teyana Taylor, and “Make It Look Easy,” Based on a True Story captures Will Smith in an invigorated state, delivering an album that’s undoubtedly his most fiery body of work to date – Preezy Brown