Will Smith announces first full-length album release in 20 years

(CNN) — Will Smith is returning to his first love.

The actor who rose to fame as a rapper announced he has a new album coming.

“It’s OFFICIAL!! My new album Based On A True Story drops March 28,” Smith wrote in a post on social media. “TWO WEEKS!! Hit that presave. Been working on this project for a minute and I’m itchin’ to get it out to y’all.”

His last album, “Lost and Found,” was released in March 2005.

Smith also shared a track list for his new project, which includes collaborations with Teyana Taylor, Jac Ross and Obanga. DJ Jazzy Jeff, Smith’s longtime friend and collaborator with whom he had the 1991 hit “Summertime,” is also listed on the opening track.

Smith released the single “Beautiful Scars” in January. Shortly after, he spoke about how the new music is a departure from some of his previous work in an interview with “Big Boy’s Neighborhood.”

“There’s a thing, there’s a brand that is Will Smith, you know, and the brand is slightly different from the man,” he said. “The brand is just a really narrow slice of what the man is, and the man has expanded in a way that the brand can almost feel like a prison.”

The album release date news came the same weekend he and his “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” costar Tatyana Ali recreated an iconic scene from their series, accompanied with an assist from Grammy-winning female rapper, Doechii.

Their TikTok performance was done to Doechii’s viral hit “Anxiety.”

In April 2024, Smith made a surprise appearance during J. Balvin’s Coachella set.

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