Will Smith returns with first music album 'Based on a True Story' in 20 years

Hollywood star Will Smith who has stayed away from the limelight for some time now following the controversial Oscar Slapgate incident in 2022 announced his plans to release his first album in 20 years. The album titled 'Based on a True Story' will release on March 28. The 14-track album features previously released singles including 'First Love,' 'Beautiful Scars,' 'TANTRUM,' 'Work of Art,' and 'You Can Make It,' as well as collaborations with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Teyana Taylor, and Jac Ross.

“Been working on this project for a minute and I’m itchin’ to get it out to y’all,” Smith wrote on Instagram, alongside a number of promotional photos for the album, as well as the full tracklist, reports billboard.com. In January, Smith talked about his decision to release an album two decades after his last record, 2005’s Lost and Found.

“A well opened up inside of me, a well of understanding of art and pain … all kinds of things that I didn’t even know were in there,” he said. “Then after the Oscars, that spiritual investigation continued and a whole world woke up inside that I didn’t even know was there. Dreams, visions; parts of my inner landscape that I had no awareness of prior to three years ago. And that opened up this bubbling to share what I’m seeing and experiencing, to explore.”

He said that a big part of his music now “is about that: the ecstatic kind of joy I remember from church when I was growing up; the ability to try to make this place more bearable. You know, I’ve always had a wild imagination; that’s part of who I am. But there’s something new happening with me that’s demanding I explore musically,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, on March 11, Smith shared a picture of himself enjoying 'National Napping Day'. The Hollywood star shared a picture on his social media, reported 'People' magazine. “Someone say it was National Napping Day?”, the Academy Award winner, 56, captioned an Instagram post, where he was seen relaxing as his loved ones gathered around, standing behind him including his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow, 24 and Jaden, 26, while his former wife, Sheree Zampino, stood next to their son, Trey, 32.