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- Summary: The first full-length album in 20 years from actor/rapper Will Smith features guest appearances by Big Sean, Fridayy, Jaden, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Joyner Lucas, Marcin, India Martínez, OBanga, Jac Ross, Russ, B. Simone, and Teyana Taylor.
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- Record Label: SLANG
- Genre(s): Rap
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 0 out of 7
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Mixed: 5 out of 7
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Negative: 2 out of 7
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Mar 28, 2025Smith’s pontificating could use a little bit of silly fiction and some Big Willie swagger — the old kind, not the hubristic strut that he walks through this mostly tired “True Story” with.
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Apr 16, 2025In Bad Boys, Smith was cool. In Hitch he was funny. In Twelve Pounds, he was vulnerable. He doesn’t seem to retain any of these qualities in his raps, instead opting for a smorgasbord of soundscapes designed to mask what could have been a revealing, emotionally interesting rap album.
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Mar 31, 2025The regrettable result is a rap album that would function better as an addendum to his memoir or another sit-down with Trevor Noah. That’s not just because of the reckoning that forces the record’s hand. That is also because, in 2025, Will Smith is proving himself a better storyteller than rapper.
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Mar 28, 2025This was an opportunity for untethered rapping and bold experimentation that still exists within the bouncy freedom of Smith’s once-playful musical universe. Unfortunately, Based on a True Story just isn’t it.
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Apr 8, 2025It’s not a hilarious disaster, it’s not a tabloid tell-all or, you know, actually good. It’s Smith’s late career in a nutshell, just about getting over the line thanks to his star wattage, and all the weirder for its smoothed-out polish.
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Mar 28, 2025An often-insubstantial record, ‘Based On A True Story’ doesn’t offer much beyond surface. If Will Smith wanted to get his feelings down on tape, this album doesn’t come close; what emerges is instead a flailing, futile gesture.
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Apr 15, 2025There are a lot of choir fills, growling electric guitars, and stomping drums, but the bombast is hollow. “Bulletproof” sounds like a “Wild Wild West” outtake, its country-and-western elements way overdone.