Will Smith and Prince once discussed the idea of launching an entertainment company with JAY-Z – but the legendary singer went on to pass away just hours later.
While appearing on the Broken Record podcast with Justin Richmond this week, Will revealed he’d not only had that moment with Prince before his passing in 2016, but that he’d also met Biggie Smalls just hours before he passed in 1997.
“I talked to Prince eight hours before he died,” he elaborated. “He called and he was pitching. He was saying that me, him and JAY-Z should start an entertainment company. And he said that he had talked to Jay and he wanted to do it. We talked that night and in the morning – he was gone.”
The convo begins at the 1:03:11 mark below.
Will Smith and JAY-Z have since worked together in multiple capacities, but it has been through their respective companies joining forces as opposed to operating under one company together.
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In 2020, Jay’s Roc Nation and Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment linked up to bring the story of Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till Mobley to the small screen.
The limited series was announced on the 65th anniversary of Till’s killing at the hands of two white men in Mississippi on August 28, 1955. The Chicago teen’s casket remained open at his funeral at the request of Mobley who wanted attendees to see how her son was brutalized and mutilated. Till’s death set in motion the Civil Rights Movement, resulting in the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act.
And in 2021, the pair of entertainment moguls invested in the startup Landis Technologies, which aims to help turn thousands of renters into homeowners.
Roc Nation and Smith’s Dreamers VC were part of a group of investors that helped Landis raise over $165 million. The influx of cash will go toward purchasing about 1,000 homes. The company will then rent the home to low-income families until they qualify for a mortgage.
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“Financial inclusion is really important to us,” co-founder Cyril Berdugo said. “An aspect of Landis that we’re very proud to be a part of is wealth creation for low-income Americans. We make money when our client buys the house back. If we leave money on the table, that’s our problem.”
