2024 has seen a number of Golden Era rap pioneers return to their roots. LL Cool J, MC Lyte, and Snoop Dogg have all released new albums this year (Snoop’s actually drops tonight), more than 30 years after each got their start. You can add Will Smith to that list, as well; while he hasn’t announced a full project as yet, he did share a pair of new songs: “Bulletproof,” which he performed at the BET Awards, and “Work Of Art.”
His latest single is called “Tantrum,” and it sees him reunite with a recent muse: Joyner Lucas, with whom he previously collaborated on a remix of the Massachusetts rapper’s homage to him, “Will.” After Joyner’s video caught Will’s attention back in 2020, the former Fresh Prince praised the younger protégé, leading to a meeting on Zoom, and eventually, it seems, a fruitful collaborative relationship.
Like LL’s raps on The FORCE, Will’s raps here are modernized from the style we best remember; since he’s probably not getting away with a “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” in 2024 (let alone a “Parents Just Don’t Understand”), it makes sense that he’d want to show his improved technical skills — especially when rapping alongside someone Eminem once called one of the best rappers ever. In the accompanying video, which you can watch above, the two rappers are represented by video game avatars, who perform their verses in a digitized version of what appears to be Miami — a nod to Smith’s extensive career that maybe should have extended to the content of the song as well.
You can listen to Will Smith’s new song “Tantrum” featuring Joyner Lucas above.