Will Smith Is Officially Working On His First New Album In Two Decades

Will Smith is in comeback mode. The Oscars slap but a severe dent in his legacy, and he’s worked hard as hell to recover. Bad Boys: Ride or Die proved that he still had the goods as a movie star. Now, it seems, Smith is dead set on reviving his music career. The Grammy-winning artist has been popping up on other people’s albums, but he finally confirmed what the hip-hop world has been suspecting. Will Smith has plans to drop a new album of his own. It will be his first since 2005’s Lost and Found.

The bombshell news was announced during Will Smith’s appearance on Black Film Allies. Despite the cinematic focus of the channel, the actor decided to shed some light on his recent reentry into music. “Over the past year and a half, I’ve been in the studio,” he admitted. It was the rest of the statement, though, that sent expectations sky high. Smith claimed that the upcoming album will be one of his best ever. “I have a project that is the most personal and powerful music project I’ve ever done,” he opined. “The idea of the music is, ‘Dance in your darkest moments.'”

The idea makes sense, given the public backlash Will Smith received after the Oscars slap. The actor spoke with Daily Show host Trevor Noah about the soul searching he did in light of the incident. “All of that bubbled up in that moment,” he recalled. “You know, just, that’s not who I want to be … I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time.” Smith’s return to music has seemingly been well-received. He performed alongside J Balvin at Coachella, and debuted a song called “We Can Make It” at the recent BET Awards.

More recently, he teamed up with Russ and his son Jaden for the song “Work of Art.” Russ gushed about the collab on Instagram, citing Will Smith’s indelible impact on the genre. The trio have performed “Work of Art” live, but a proper release date has not yet been announced. Smith’s comment about dancing “in your darkest moments” has sparked an online theory that the expression will serve as the title of the upcoming album. The actor has repeatedly used the expression on social media, and the phrase even has its own website. Few people are more conscious of branding, after all. Hopefully Smith provides us with an update soon.