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I dont wanna sound too harsh, but this is what i honestly feel. I don't know what it is, but Will sounds off. It's like he's trying too hard to come off as dominant, superior, hard and at the same time he lacks confidence... which gives me a feeling of not being authentic. I totally understand why people are annoyed, especially the younger generation. He probably comes off as somebody who just started rapping. I have also read some comments and you really can't refute the criticism, when people f.e. point out that he rhymed "tonight" with "tonight" three times on Pretty Girls. His flow is very basic, his rhyme scheme is the same as 20 years ago. It looks like he never touched the pen in the past 20 years. As i mentioned previously, i think he is way behind his peers like LL, Rakim, Nas, which is very sad. His rap persona ego is just too big compared to what he delivers. I'm sorry that i couldn't be more positive and i don't wanna spoil the excitement, but as a long time fan i just had to express my true feelings. I still hope that he will go back to his roots and make some fun storytelling tracks with Jeff.

The song is getting a better reaction than what I thought! I've even had a friend who's not particularly a Will fan message me saying, "Will's new track is a banger!" I don't think that's happened since Switch! It might not be what we were hoping for or expected but maybe this gets more people listening to Will's new music, which can only be a good thing! All I know is, I got to see Will live this week in London, he signed my Willennium vinyl, I'm seeing him again in August and he's consistently releasing new music. So I'm not going to take this for granted. In 10 years, Will will be in his mid 60s and none of this will be happening. I'm just going to enjoy that he's still making music while I can!

Not sure what’s going on with new people joining and leaving negative comments but I guess that’s the internet these days. It definitely has mixed reviews, a lot of hate but lots of comments enjoying it too. Nearly half million views on YouTube in 3 days. Ive honestly been playing the song none stop all weekend. I don’t want it to appear that I have bad taste in music here haha, but there’s something about it that’s so enjoyable to me. It’s a shame that I feel like I’m enjoying it by myself. It’s like stoichennium said, he’s not gonna be doing this in 10 years. In fact I never thought I’d see him do this in 2025. Embrace it. He’s not gonna make another BWS at his age. But we’ve got a tour and 3 albums. Your hip hop stuff is coming. That anxiety rhyme will be on the album.

An account with two posts and a personal attack. I've no reason to lie. What's happening to this board? I've been a member over 20 years and suddenly the board is littered with new accounts focused on posting negative comments. I don't like it.

Pretty girls has nearly 2 million views on YouTube. Of his newer stuff beautiful scars has 6.8 million views, work of art has 2.6 and tantrum has 2.1 so it’s doing pretty well as far as that goes. I like that the new remixes are helping it get attention, but they all sound terrible to me. Horrible hardcore, sped up dance. The best part of pretty girls is the beat and how Will flows around it. These remixes don’t have that.

Surprised he’s performing “get lit” to be honest. Im really excited to hear some songs from BOATS and pretty girls, even if no one else gets the vibe I'm gonna be singing my heart out. And I want to see Wild Wild West. He will obviously do all the classics but I’ve seen those before in Blackpool. Can’t wait for some new stuff (still working on learning all the words)

I really agree with Def. Yes he’s having fun and doing his thing which I can respect, but it’s very forced. Listen to the new albums by LL, KRS, and the multiple recent albums by Nas. They adapted but still kept that old school vibe that makes them genuine. Will isn’t really doing that. I don’t know how else to word it. He’s not reading the room at all. one thing I always wanted to see Will do is come back and embrace hip hop. Work with some bigger producers. Spit real raps. Tap into his fresh prince side. But in reality he’s too busy trying to catch lightning in a bottle with a quick hit on some average beats. This isn’t what we wanted. I was listening to big Willie style the other day and it’s crazy how much more of an emcee he sounds like compared to today. Yes he was younger but that’s no excuse. Others can do it. No reason he can’t.

Will Smith being interviewed on the Big Time Podcast in Saudi Arabia. I don't believe this interview has been posted anywhere on this site.

Thanks for sharing! Yeah, I think this is the first time he has done 'Light Em Up' live. And I really enjoyed that old school hip hop section as well.

so far this is the largest chunk I’ve found of the show. Not great footage but it is what it is. Really impressed with what I’ve seen so far. The “old school hip hop” section was unreal. Think this is the first time he’s performed “light em up”. shocked to see “get lit” make a return lol.

Will in Morocco https://www.instagram.com/willsmith/p/DLXh1rxMqgC/

It's strange. A lot of comments for this era have been positive outside of "Pretty Girls". I guess this channel just isn't for him. I will say that host is super annoying.

I want more of this!

It is a summer banger. Specially the sped up version.

Yeah the comments are brutal. I feel like he just can’t win. People just keep hating on him.

Maaaan, he saw that a lot of us were not feeling "Pretty Girls" and was quick to drop some heat. That "expect me on the stage" line is kinda gangsta. I just wish the host would shut up. This better be on the next album.

If Will wanted to go viral with his music it’s worked. Unfortunately he’s gone viral because everyone is just making fun of his music and saying how terrible the song is. i feel like he only releases the second album if he rights the ship and releases a good song next. Otherwise the comeback will go out with a whimper on this trash.

I've collated all the videos from the performance here: https://www.jazzyjefffreshprince.com/2025/06/15/will-smith-jazzy-jeff-perform-for-80000-at-wembley-stadium-in-london/

Nice words from Will to Jeff before the 'Boom! Shake The Room' performance

The Capital Radio summerball was one of the best JJFP performances of all time. The 90;000 Wembley crowd doing all the crowd response, Jeff’s scratches back on all the tracks. Just Will and Jeff being together after 40 years; it was really sweet. Give Jeff & Will get their flowers - they are getting older so this may be the last year they perform. Glad they did that! Amazing!

Justice for pretty girls! Music is a funny thing. Thought it was cheesy and silly when I first heard it. But there was something about it that made me keep wanting to play it over and over. Sometimes a song just hits you right and seeing I live just cemented it for me. I love it! I hope everyone else gets to enjoy it, both the fans here and the public. Imagine if it did become a hit.

That performance was incredible! The crowd was a bit dead from the previous 2 artists. But you can tell Will and Jeff have been doing this a long time. Will got them going and cheering. Jeff was on fire, great hearing all his scratches on Wills tracks. Even got involved in the performance coming out from his decs. Pretty girls sounded good live. It fit in well with the rest of the set. I like the song even more now. Cant believe they are 56 and 60 coming out with more energy than the younger artists before them.

I screen recorded it. The file was over 3GB so I had to compress it a bit. Here’s a download link. https://we.tl/t-64fCkpRcHk

I’m seeing a lot of positive reactions about this song as well. Had some friends texting me saying they liked it, others saying they don’t. It is a mixed bag. So far the video has 455k views on YouTube. Let’s see where this goes. All the song needs is one or two radio stations putting it on their playlist.

I’m honestly not so sure he cares about that anymore. At least that’s the vibe I get from his interviews. He’s releasing the music for himself, not to please the fans or to try and cement his legacy. He’s just saying what he wants to say, and honestly I’m happy that includes some silly songs like this.

Amazing you got that signed. Seeing him in Brixton in August!

No, a negative comment is calling me a lier. Anyway, I'm not debating with a faceless person I don't know and will never meet. Enjoy the board. It's been fun but I don't like where it's going. Have fun everyone and I hope you enjoy whatever Will does next! :)

FWIW, the r/CrappyMusic sub on reddit has already gotten its hands on this. To be fair they hate Will Smith, but stuff like this isn't going to help...Like i said in another thread, Im glad he's having fun, but he's fumbling a great opportunity here. LL, Snoop, Busta, KRS...They all recently released some dope albums. Will can do that, but he just seems apprehensive to deviate from what's brought him success in the past. And what did it in 97 isn't going to do it in '25. Do what Kendrick and Jay allegedly told you, and just spit that real ****.

The new song is cool and I’m glad Will is having fun with the music again, but I was thinking of something…he constantly talks about wanting to be respected as an artist. He wants his name in the same breath as Dre, Jay, Rakim, LL, Slick Rick, etc…but if he wants that we need some real hip hop. He needs to dig back deep to his roots. We know he’s capable of spitting bars. We need more tracks like Tantrum. These days it’s hard to sell and it’s even harder to get a hit like Jiggy…I feel like that’s kinda what he’s shooting for with a summer anthem like this but at the end of the day he has a chance to really do something to cement his name in hip hop. Not that that isn’t already in stone, but to really show out and prove himself in a rap game that’s currently lacking. You look at Nas, LL, Dre, Snoop…these old heads are still spittin and still getting respect. I really hope these next 2 seasons have some real stuff. Just my two cents. If this is what he wants and he’s just having fun then I support it.

I can see why y’all are hating on this song, but I’m enjoying it just fine…. It’s not serious, doesn’t need to be. I can imagine why it’s awkward for a 50+ year old man to be singing “I like pretty girls” but I guess I’m just not putting to much thought into it, it’s just pop.

It’s gonna be on itv on Sunday 22nd at 5.30pm if anyone in the UK is interested. Gotta wait a bit

Looking forward to that Wembley show! Him and Jeff together will be fire. I bet Jeff’s involvement will make the newer songs sound even better.

Ok I’m gonna lighten it up with a bit of positivity in here. It’s certainly far from my favourite of the new tracks but I don’t hate it like you guys. ok so it’s a bit corny and it does leave Will open to be made fun of. But what’s new there, he’s been made fun of since 1988. The lyrics aren’t great, however, not every song needs to be deep. I like the beat, it’s fun, silly and catchy. The video is a bit like his fresh Prince days. The song reminds me of”my humps” by the black eyed peas. People said it was cheesy but people loved it. On another positive note. Will and Jeff are playing Wembley this Sunday with capital fm, it’s one of the biggest radio stations in the UK. They played the song this morning for millions of listeners. I would have preferred one of his better songs but telling so many people he has an album out might get some more fans aware of BOATS.

This is gonna be my summer song this year. It sounds great in the car.

This is spot on for me. I’m honestly surprised how many people are so negative on this considering how he used to release goofy music with JJ all the time. And no I don’t think all of those were great either, some were downright absurd like “she bit me”. But they don’t all need to be serious or deep. I think this one is fun and I honestly haven’t been seeing any more negatively in the comments than any of his other releases. I dunno I’d take this over “get lit” any damn day of the week. Don’t listen to the haters man, I’m with you. So far I’ve also seen positive feedback about it. Been waiting so long for Will to get back into music, and I was hoping he would also release some fun tracks. I also like this better than “first love” and maybe even “beautiful scars” Ridiculous comment

Couldn’t disagree more

Y’all need to lighten up. (And I’m not including the random bots that just ascended upon us)

I just thought she was more talking about the album, but slipped up and will didn’t want to embarrass her. But I’d be happy to be wrong (as I’m one of the few who really enjoys the song)

Nothing says "I'm cool" like a 57-year-old making garbage TikTok music while his wife hosts confessionals about other men at the Red Table... And what's with all the cursing in this and the other new songs? It's like he's betraying everything that he stood for. I guess those Ayahuasca demons are pretty strong!