Will Smith's New Album Opens With Oscars Slap

The actor/rapper barred for 10 years from the Oscars released his first album in two decades on Friday on which his first words are "Will Smith is canceled." On the opening track, "Int. Barbershop—Day," characters seem to be gossiping, with one voice saying, "Who the f--- Will Smith think he is?" and another voice adding, "I ain't never gone forgive him for that stuff he did," Variety reports. Smith was punished for slapping host Chris Rock during the Academy Awards ceremony in March 2022. Smith speaks in and out of character on the album, at one point returning to the infamous, "You better keep his wife's name out of your mouth."

Smith moves on in the album, Based on a True Story, to discuss his comeback, saying, "Took a lot/I'm back on top," and mentions that he "won't get nominated." Actually, though he resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Smith remains eligible to win an Oscar, per NBC News. He's apologized to Rock for the onstage assault, per Billboard. Smith told the AP for an interview published this week that he's spent time in self-reflection. "Every song is about some part of myself that I discovered or wanted to explore," he said, "something I wanted to share." (More Will Smith stories.)