Forty-nine year old Willard Smith popularly known as Will Smith or the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air recently appeared on TIDAL’s Rap Radar podcast, where he talked about his twenty year marriage to long time heartthrob Jada Pinkett Smith as well as his career. He also previews his upcoming rap album, including a song called “The Mountaintop,” which he says describes where he’s at right now.
The Actor/Rapper says….
“I’m granting myself the freedom to not give a f**k when I don’t give a f**k,”
Talking further about the song, he says….
“The idea is… I’ve been to the top of money, I’ve had all the sex that I’ve ever wanted, I’ve had all of the adoration. I’ve been to the top of all those material world mountains and nothing makes you happy other than being useful to others. That’s it. That’s the only thing that ever will satisfy that thing, is that what you’re doing is useful.”
He also addresses his image in Hollywood where he is viewed as a nice guy
“I haven’t maintained my authenticity per se,” he says. “I’ve maintained the character of Will Smith…[who] signs every autograph, is always happy, and wants to see the fans and that’s not actually authentic. I do want to slap somebody every once in a while.”
The former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star actually did slap someone at the 2012 Moscow premiere of Men in Black 3, when notorious Hollywood prankster Vitalii Sediuk tried to kiss him on the lips. Smith recalls rapper JAY-Z, calling him after the highly publicized incident. He says….
“I get back and I’m pissed that somebody thinks because you’re famous, they get to do whatever they want to do to you,” he recalls. “So, I’m in my room and I had 10 urgent messages from Jay-Z.”
“So I call him and say, ‘What’s up?’ He sounds winded, He said, ‘I just saw the video of you slapping the dude in Russia. I just want you to know you’ll never make a better piece of entertainment. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.’ He said, ‘Me and Bey, we got a show tonight, and we’re thinking about cancelling it and just staying in and watching you slap this dude.’
Smith however admitted that he’s bothered about the fact that people regard him as soft when it comes to music.
“That was a difficult time coming up. … It was always difficult [to hear] people say I was soft and my music was cotton candy. I always wanted to fight to prove myself. Fighting yourself to maintain positivity is the hardest fight you ever gon’ have. That struggle to just stay my course, be the person in the world that I wanted to be no matter what people said. I started to call it offensive positivity.”