Will Smith & Teyana Taylor Survive ‘Hard Times’ On New Album

Will Smith’s first album in 20 years has arrived. On Based On A True Story, the superstar returns to his roots for 14 new tracks of uplifting, motivational, storytelling rap. A prime example: “Hard Times (Smile),” the sixth track on the list, which features Teyana Taylor.

In the song, producers Lexoskeleton and OmArr blend jazz, funk, and soul samples to give Smith a spiritual backdrop for rhymes detailing some of the “hard times” he’s made it through, as well as encouraging the listener to have resilience through their own.

Smith’s return to music comes as a hard reset of his career, which stalled out in the wake of the 2022 Oscars, where the rapper-turned-actor infamously slapped the hell out of comedian host Chris Rock after a tasteless joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. The former Fresh Prince saw mixed reviews for his next handful of film projects, but bounced back thanks to Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

He kicked off his return to music with the Kanye West-inspired “Bulletproof,” debuted during a performance at the 2024 BET Awards. Following up with “Work Of Art,” the Joyner Lucas reunion “Tantrum,” and the Big Sean collaboration “Beautiful Scars,” it looks like Will’s taking the new career transition seriously, with a full tour planned for later this year.

Based On A True Story is out now via Slang. You can find more info here.