Will Smith shares album advice from Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z

13 June 2025, 09:00 | Updated: 13 June 2025, 09:07

Will Smith joined Capital XTRA Breakfast to talk all things new music, and revealed that Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar had a part in the making of his new album, ‘Based on a True Story’.

Will Smith spent the morning with Shayna Marie and Robert Bruce on Capital XTRA Breakfast to discuss his upcoming single ‘Pretty Girls’ off the back of his newest album ‘Based on a True Story’, released earlier this year.

He revealed to the Breakfast hosts that this album represents the advice and opinions of some of hip-hop’s greatest artists, Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z.

The I Am Legend star spoke about how reflective ‘Based on a True Story’ is and how therapeutic making it had been.

He said: “The last three years, I’ve been in a seriously deep introspective place…almost felt like I found a new creative well.”

Will made clear to Shayna and Robert that he had put his heart into this project, and in the process got to know himself more.

When asked about if he had had any standout moment from the album-making process the Men In Black star revealed that the GOATs, Kendrick and Jay-Z had both given him similar advice.

Kendrick told Will: “You have to say that thing that you’ve always been terrified to say.”

And Jay-Z told him: “Don’t even make music if you’re not going to be honest.”

‘Based on a True Story’, clearly takes note of this advice as its name explains, but with a career as wide and impressive as Will’s the album has a lot of truth to tell!

The new single ‘Pretty Girls’, which Will describes as a summery anthem, is out on Friday 13th June.

You can watch the full interview on Global Player, here, where Wills plays some games and dives deeper into his career.

Will Smith drops summer track with wisdom from Kendrick Lamar & Jay-Z 🤝🔥

Here Are All The Ways You Can Listen To Capital XTRA