The first song, which features Smith’s longtime collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff and comedian-rapper B. Simone, is titled “Int. Barbershop – Day,” a sketch song where comic characters reflect on Smith’s controversies and public persona. The denizens of the barbershop don’t always have their facts exactly right: “I heard he won the Oscar but he had to give it back/And you know they only made him do that shit because he’s Black,” goes one line. (Smith kept his King Richard Oscar, but resigned from the Academy and was banned for 10 years.) Another line references his complicated relationship with wife Jada Pinkett-Smith and how it boiled over at the Academy Awards: “Him and Jada both crazy girl, what you talkin’ bout?/ You better keep his wife’s name out of your mouth.”
“Int. Barbershop – Day” leans into the comedic lyrical and performance style that Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff pioneered from early in their careers on songs like “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” which won the first ever Grammy for Best Rap Performance. (Trust that this fact is mentioned multiple times on the album, including the opener, where the barbershop crew decide he “don’t need” his Oscar because “he the first to win a Grammy for rap.”) Where the new song differs is the explicit language. After spending most of his career as a “clean” rapper—apparently because his grandmother once told him “intelligent people do not have to use words like these to express themselves”—Smith cusses freely on Based On A True Story. For example, the other Slap-related track “You Lookin’ For Me?”: “Took a lot, I’m back on top/Y’all gon’ have to get acclimated/Won’t stop, my shit still hot/Even though I won’t get nominated.”
The Oscars incident isn’t referenced as explicitly elsewhere on the album, but the overall theme of Based On A True Story is facing personal demons and overcoming “Hard Times” (the title of one track that features Teyana Taylor). He admits that “My inner child keep throwin’ a tantrum” on “Tantrum” and reflects on “Beautiful Scars,” “‘Oh, why did he do it?’ See, I’m only human.” Of course, we know from his memoir that he’s had a lot of other emotional and psychological issues to sort through, so he might not just be referencing The Slap. Regardless, the artist’s conclusion is the same, as summed up by the opening song. The folks at the barbershop may insist they’re “never gonna forgive him for that shit he did,” they’ll still welcome Will Smith into the shop gladly—because “You can’t cancel no icon.”
