Will Smith has been honored in his hometown of Philadelphia with a street renamed after him and a key to the city.
On Wednesday (March 26), the superstar rapper/actor was present as the 2000 block of North 59th Street in Philadelphia’s Overbrook section became Will Smith Way.
“With all of his accomplishments and success, wherever you see him in the world, he is unapologetic about letting you know that ‘I’m Will Smith, in West Philadelphia born and raised,’” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said, according to NBC Philadelphia.
Will told the crowd, “Nobody gets an easy ride, and that’s one of the things these streets of Philadelphia taught me: that there is nothing wrong with a hard day’s work.
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He donned a jacket and hat with the name of his alma mater, Overbrook High School, and recalled: “I walked across this bridge for my whole high school career in snow and rain.”
He also noted he found himself wondering “what is the Will Smith Way?” ahead of the event, and concluded: “The Will Smith Way is encompassed in the lessons I got from my father, my mother and my grandmother.”
Will Smith is gearing up to release his new album Based On A True Story on March 28 — two decades almost to the day from his last one.
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On March 14, the veteran superstar shared the news on Instagram, along with the album cover and track list, the latter of which is divided into “episodes” instead of songs. Features include DJ Jazzy Jeff, Teyana Taylor and Smith’s son Jaden.
“It’s OFFICIAL!!” Smith captioned the post. “My new album Based On A True Story drops March 28. TWO WEEKS!! Hit that presave. Been working on this project for a minute and I’m itchin’ to get it out to y’all.”
Smith’s last LP was Lost and Found, released on March 29, 2005.
While on the promo run for the project, Smith revealed that he 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.
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While appearing on the Broken Record podcast with Justin Richmond, 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.”
Will and Hov 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.
