Will Smith had one prediction for Eminem’s explosive growth in the Hip Hop world that came true. Smith listened to Eminem’s track, Just the Two of Us, from his Slim Shady EP and shared that the rapper would become the biggest thing in Hip Hop or the biggest flop. The crazy lyrics of the song somehow connected with the audience who hailed Eminem as a musical genius.
A few years after the encounter between the stars, Eminem included a few diss lines in his single, The Real Slim Shady, about the After Earth actor. The whole story was revealed by DJ Jazzy Jeff who had collaborated with both the Venom singer and the King Richard actor.
Will Smith Had A Harsh Prediction About Eminem’s Hip Hop Career
Before Eminem signed with Dr. Dre and became one of the most popular Hip Hop artists in the world, he received memorable feedback from Will Smith for his one song. Smith was into the Hip Hop scene at the time. The Emancipation actor and Eminem met when the former visited his collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff’s studio at the same time when the No Love singer was there.
Jeff revealed in an interview with Montreality that he was a big fan of Eminem’s earlier songs and invited him to his studio. Jeff and Eminem were playing some songs when Smith walked into the room. Smith and Jeff released five albums between 1987 and 1993 under the name ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’. The Beautiful singer and the West Philadelphia musician played the song Just The Two of Us for Smith.
Interestingly, Smith had a song of the same name in his debut solo album, Big Willie Style. Jeff shared that after listening to the song, Smith looked at Eminem and told him that he could either be the biggest flop or the biggest star in Hip Hop. DJ Jazzy Jeff shared with Montreality:
Will listened to it, and Will looked at him and said, ‘You’re either gonna be the biggest flop in Hip Hop, or you’re gonna be the biggest thing that we’ve ever seen in Hip Hop. And [Eminem] never forgot that.’
Jeff further shared that Eminem’s song was so outrageous and genius that Smith’s comment made sense. The song referred to a father being alone with his daughter after he kidnapped and murdered his wife. Jeff further explained Smith’s comment to Montreality:
You’re gonna be the biggest flop, because I guess people are just gonna think you’re so crazy. Or you’re just a super genius—and the super genius part really paid off.
Eminem later retitled the song as 97 Bonnie & Clyde. Many musical critics praised the black humor in the song, while for some others it struck a chord.
Will Smith Wasn’t Mad About Eminem’s Lyrics About Him
Will Smith made some controversial comments during the Grammys 1998 that did not sit well with many in the music industry. He publicly expressed discontent about cursing and Gangsta rap during his Grammy speech. Dr. Dre was one of the pioneers of the genre and many felt that The Pursuit of Happyness actor was going after the legend. Interestingly, Eminem chose to defend his mentor and wrote a few lines dissing Smith in his single, The Real Slim Shady. The lines read:
Will Smith doesn’t have to cuss to sell records
Well, I do
So f*ck him
And f*ck you too.
DJ Jazzy Jeff shared with Montreality that Smith brushed off the lyrics and Eminem later explained to Jeff about how he was just defending Dr. Dre. Jeff shared with Montreality:
That kinda stuff, he just brushes off. The funny thing was, I ended up deejaying at an Em show in Detroit. And when I went in there, he kinda came to me and was like, ‘Yo man, when I said that stuff about Will, he wasn’t mad?’ I said, ‘Nah, he doesn’t care about that stuff.’ [Eminem added], ‘That was just me stickin’ up for [Dr.] Dre and that point in time.
There is no bad blood between Smith and Eminem today. The singer is a social media sensation even today while the Aladdin actor is on a path to redeem himself from the controversial Oscar slap of 2022.
