Will Smith and Big Sean pulled up to the Genius office to break down their song “BEAUTIFUL SCARS.” The single is set to appear on the legendary actor’s forthcoming album, 'Based on a True Story,' his first in over 20 years! On today’s episode of Verified, both artists get deeply personal and introspective, discussing how this collaboration was different from any other for the Detroit rapper, mastering another craft, the multiple influences of The Matrix, and much more.
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00:00Every collaboration that I've done before, all the features and things, Jay-Z, all them
00:07type songs.
00:08I usually do my verse first and then they come through and they be going crazy, but
00:12for the verse on his song, I just was like, let me just go with my first mind, do it,
00:17knock it out.
00:18But then the song evolved.
00:19When he was on set and I heard the third verse, I'm like, damn, I could've probably ended
00:23it.
00:24I was like, oh, you're trying to go like that?
00:26I'm like, oh, okay.
00:27I remember being there, obviously it was too late because I was shooting a video, but I
00:31remember being like, it's all good, I'm going to get them again.
00:43The first thing I saw immediately is that you understood the idea of what a beautiful
00:51scar is.
00:52Oh yeah.
00:53Let's keep it real.
00:54Will, he a real one.
00:56He'll hop on the phone with you, talk you through your life, you know what I'm saying,
00:59and really get a feel.
01:00I appreciate him being as high up as he is and still like that, you know what I'm saying,
01:05as a real man.
01:06It ain't too many authentic people out here like that, especially after they get the quote
01:11unquote accolades or the money or whatever it is you're after.
01:16Sometimes that changes people's character and you can tell he's just evolved as a person,
01:22you know what I mean?
01:23But it's still the same him and I appreciate that.
01:33We wrote this eight months ago, so the fact that the song is coming out right when the
01:40Eagles are going to the Super Bowl.
01:43It is what it is.
01:44It's been written.
01:45Because I'm an icon, somebody you can base your life on, that you should place your sights
01:49on.
01:51And that's when hip hop was, you know, barely on the East Coast.
01:55And I saw Run in Tokyo take his sneaker off and hold his Adidas up in the air.
02:04And 20,000 Japanese b-boys all had Adidas on.
02:10I was like, that power of that kind of iconic status and imagery was brand new back then.
02:19I did yearn for that kind of global connection with people.
02:33I actually, you know, put my hip hop career to the side to dive into acting.
02:41I'm a master actor.
02:43I've never given myself the opportunity to elevate my poetry, my concepts to the level
02:51of the mastery I've attained as an actor.
03:13The idea of the matrix around the idea of beautiful scars is that I turned down Neo.
03:20The career loss of the matrix is a beautiful scar.
03:25I am a king with a queen, reign and supreme, bend through the rain, mud on my feet, tracks
03:29in the street, fame can be steep, mask off, see my face ain't clean, dip my dirt, made
03:34it hurt worse, went to church feeling curse worked on myself, Kintsugi first, couldn't
03:39tell I've been through hell on earth.
03:40The word I was using when I kept thinking about the past couple years of my life was,
03:45it was brutal.
03:46It was brutal and beautiful, Kintsugi first.
03:49The idea of Kintsugi is a Japanese pottery art.
03:53You break a dish, right?
03:54If a dish falls and normally you break it, you throw it in the trash, Kintsugi, is they
04:00take it and they put it back together with gold bond.
04:04So you end up with a piece of one of a kind, unique art that has golden scars.
04:12Now the broken dish is actually more beautiful and more valuable than the original.
04:19The truth ain't burned, you live and you learn.
04:20Now I'm like Confucius, see life is confusing.
04:22I hate when I lose it, but I face the music, oh why did he do it?
04:26See I'm only human.
04:27Of all the lines in this song, that is the line that was hardest for me to say.
04:36I hate admitting that I'm only human.
04:39My ego wants to be Superman.
04:41I want to be invincible.
04:43My deepest hope is that by admitting that I'm only human, I will realize that I am much
04:51more than Will Smith ever was.
05:01When you keep it G and beat the I's, that's what you call God.
05:04As soon as I was writing to the beat, that's just the first thing I heard.
05:09When you write rap, sometimes they just come to you.
05:12It has a couple meanings.
05:13I guess it's like a double entendre in a sense.
05:15You grow through what you go through, right?
05:17Your experiences make you who you are.
05:19We all got God inside of us, so it's like what you make it through, that's who you are.
05:23We gods.
05:24And then obviously it spells it out too, so.
05:38Bruh, on a daily basis, I used to blame anything that was going wrong in my life on everyone
05:44else.
05:45I was like, there's no way I could be fucking that.
05:47Whatever you put out is really coming back to you, period.
05:50If some shit is not going right in my environment, well guess who's the source of it?
05:56Guess who's the creator?
05:57You know what I'm saying?
05:58It's not Tyler.
05:59It's me.
06:00You know?
06:11That's one of the best lessons I learned, because I trusted them more than I trusted
06:14myself.
06:15Whether it be a mentor, whether it be somebody who is in the same profession as me and who's
06:19done a lot more than me.
06:22Sometimes I've done stuff where I didn't agree with it all the way, but it's like, since
06:25they said that.
06:26But now, I'm at a point in my life where I'm taking things with a grain of salt.
06:32Mr. Anderson, obviously, is my last name, Mr. Smith.
06:35If anyone who's seen The Matrix knows the historical connection between them.
06:40It was just ironic.
06:42So when he hit me on the phone and was like, yo, why don't we just do it for the video?
06:47And I was like, I don't know how you could pull that off, because The Matrix is so high
06:54production value.
06:55But then I remember I'm talking to one of the richest niggas in it.
06:58And I was like, oh yeah, okay, I mean, as long as it's on your budget, let's do this
07:03shit.
07:12I'm a living legend.
07:13I'm a dying legend.
07:14I ain't trying to get it, bitch.
07:15I gotta get it.
07:16I'm not even really concerned with credit or this and that.
07:19I know the contributions I make creatively to hip-hop, from flows to styles, at the end
07:24of anything.
07:26Any type of movie, any type of television, you get the credits at the end.
07:30And that's just a metaphor for life as well.
07:33There are no limits to send through the universe.
07:36I believe in me like it's religion, but I am the only one who converts.
07:39You have to be the person that believes in you more than anybody.
07:44It's really hard to do something that you don't believe you can do.
07:51The universe moves based on our thoughts and our beliefs.
07:57The power of manifestation starts with what you allow yourself to think.
08:14Your reality is your reality.
08:17My reality is the only thing that's real for me.
08:21I rebuild with the broken pieces that are shattered on the floor.
08:25I can look at that as an absolute mess and horrible and it's terrible, or I can look
08:33at this as a really great kintsugi opportunity to rebuild something beautiful and powerful.
08:55You are the answer.
08:57You are the power.
08:58You are the principle.
08:59Every second that you're living is pivotal.
09:01And I think really deep at my core, seeing the suffering, dreaming of healing them is
09:06the thing that makes me feel best in this lifetime.
09:11Ultimate healing is recognizing that you are infinitely powerful and your mind can do anything.
09:21Your mind can cultivate any kind of internal fragrance that you're seeking.
09:30Anything that's broken is remixable.
09:32Even when it's not physical, you are not alone.
09:35Trust the invisible.
09:36Ancestors flex when it gets critical.
09:38Top of the pyramids.
09:39I am the pinnacle.
09:40The you, you, you is really we.
09:44It's all of us.
09:45The I am the pinnacle, the top of the pyramids, I am, is a reference to the Bible I am, not
09:54to the ego I am.
09:56God is the pinnacle, but the play of the I am is your relationship with God is not separate.
10:05I am the pinnacle.
10:09This dude got hops.
10:12So we were doing a scene, it was like, so, you know, how they do the cameras that go
10:16around.
10:17360.
10:18You have to time it to 360.
10:19You have to do one, two, three.
10:21You time it and you do, you do the jump, you have to do everything at the same time.
10:25And you, it's like, you know, two seconds that you have to capture it.
10:29So they were like, one, two, three, jump.
10:32So we jumped.
10:33So I jumped.
10:34And then he just kept going and I was like, hey!
10:40Yo, man.
10:41Yeah, I don't skip leg day, bro.
10:44I don't skip leg day, bro.
10:45Hey, man, come on back down here, young fella.
10:48I turned down The Matrix and made The Wild Wild West.
10:50But that's a classic too.
10:51I've made better choices.
10:52No, no, come on, bro.
10:53I mean, don't downplay us.
10:54You know, niggas fuck The Wild Wild West too.