Based on a True Story
Based on a True Story Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Will Smith Will Smith has heard the chatter. So much of it, in fact, that the armchair punditry he apes on his Based on a True Story opener, “Int. Barbershop - Day,” sounds like it could be a field recording from any number of Black American gathering spaces. “Who the fuck Will Smith think he is?/And that boy damn crazy how he raising them kids,” goes a particularly cartoony quip. But that’s the beauty of Smith’s creative practice. Whether as star of television’s groundbreaking The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air , hunky lead of rom-coms like Hitch , and even action flicks like the Bad Boys franchise, Smith has never had a problem poking fun at himself. But keep playing…and he’ll get serious quick. Which is exactly what happens on Based on a True Story , Smith’s first body of work following 2022’s infamous Chris Rock/Oscars altercation and his first full-length album since 2005’s Lost and Found . On...