Current:Home > MyWill Smith resurges rap career with new single 'Work of Art' -AssetLink
Will Smith resurges rap career with new single 'Work of Art'
View
Date:2025-04-14 02:35:35
The Fresh Prince is officially back in the rap game.
Will Smith released the debut single "Work of Art" off of his upcoming album Friday along with its music video. The track features Smith's son Jaden and singer Russ on the vocals with the Grammy-winning rapper reflecting on the different aspects of his personality.
"I am Musa, I am Jesus / I am Judas, I am the judge / I am the victim, and I'm the shooter / I'm in the Torah, and the Koran, and in the Bible / I am a shepherd / I am a leader, and a disciple," Smith, 55, smoothly raps.
He also alludes to his struggle in the public eye after he slapped comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
"They tried to censor me / But then they sent for me," he raps in one section, adding in the chorus, "I am a saint, but if you touch, I am a savage."
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Will Smith returns to musicwith uplifting BET Awards 2024 performance of 'You Can Make It'
Throughout the music video, Smith reveals to Russ that he recorded over 20 songs for his upcoming project. "'Work of Art' was the song where I found my voice. It was like 'Ah! That’s what I want to talk about,'" he says as the two become part of a museum display.
Smith has been teasing his return to music in the past few months with an appearance during J. Balvin's Coachella set in April, followed by the first live performance of his song "You Can Make It" at the BET Awards in June and a surprise appearance at La Velada Del Año 4 earlier this month.
Teasing his fifth album, the "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" star wrote on Instagram on July 12, "The Theme of the music I’ve been working on is 'Dance in your Darkest Moments.' Over the past couple of years I’ve had to learn a different way to be with adversity — a different way to face hard times."
The actor's most recent studio album was “Lost and Found,” released in 2005. The album sold a half-million copies and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Contributing: Edward Segarra, KiMi Robinson
veryGood! (93)
Related
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Trapped in Gaza for 2 weeks, hundreds of American citizens still not able to leave
- Five Decades and a Mountain of Evidence: Study Explores How Toxic Chemicals are ‘Stealing Children’s Future Potential’
- Montana man gets 18 months in federal prison for repeated racist phone calls made to a church
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Tim Burton and Girlfriend Monica Bellucci's Red Carpet Debut Will Take You Down the Rabbit Hole
- DHS warns of spike in hate crimes as Israel-Hamas war intensifies
- Coach keeps QB Deshaun Watson on sideline as Browns upend Colts: 'I wanted to protect him'
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Theft of 2 million dimes from truckload of coins from US Mint leaves four facing federal charges
Ranking
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- Winnebago County to pay $3.3 million to settle fatal police crash lawsuit
- Northern Soul is thriving across the UK thanks to Gen Z looking to dance
- Orbán blasts the European Union on the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet uprising
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Swift bests Scorsese at box office, but ‘Killers of the Flower Moon” opens strongly
- Montana man gets 18 months in federal prison for repeated racist phone calls made to a church
- Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes Are the Real MVPs for Their Chiefs Game Handshake
Recommendation
Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
Diana Nyad marks anniversary of epic Cuba-Florida swim, freeing rehabilitated sea turtle in the Keys
Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness taking leave of absence because of wife's seizure
University of Michigan slithers toward history with massive acquisition of jarred snake specimens
Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
Taylor Swift Wears Her Heart on Her Sleeve as She Cheers on Travis Kelce at Chiefs Game
Swift bests Scorsese at box office, but ‘Killers of the Flower Moon” opens strongly
A new benefit at top companies: College admissions counseling