Will Smith in 2018: "there's no deal breakers"
hip hop's new daily operation | 7.4.20
⤴️📸: danamo
TheMotto No. 59 takes it back two years to the day — to that time we lit up the world with an exclusive Will Smith interview. You know why it had to drop on Independence Day: Independence Day is the 1996 film that turned Big Willie into a movie star. And yes, B. Dot and I (the wife too!) flew to Budapest, Hungary for this conversation. One of my mottos has always been: why wait for the story to come to you? Go get the damn story! Lift off. From the moment we showed up at the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Place, the afternoon was magical. Will walked in like the charismatic king he is, greeted everyone warmly and was impressed by the vivid Rap Radar podcast set-up. Previous TIDAL Rap Radar podcasts had been recorded in black and white (I wanted the visuals to be different from our CBS Radio era), but with B. Dot’s encouragement, we went full-color with this one, and never looked back.
⤴️📸: danamo
The interview itself turned out picture perfect, as well. We talked about Will the rapper, Will the Fresh Prince, Will the actor, Will the husband, and Will the father. Our engaging and intimate talk is a li’l over an hour long, and we heard back from Mr. Smith about how much he enjoyed it. He and his team have used many clips from it at his social channels.
Our podcast anniversary coincides with the Smith family moving through some turbulent waters. Everyone’s marriage is deeply complex. And this moment makes me recall how just how serious Will Smith was in 2018 when talking about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. “We don’t even say we’re married anymore,” Will said to the Rap Radar pod, two years ago. “We refer to ourselves as life partners…Where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life. There’s no deal breakers. There’s nothing she could do — ever. Nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support ‘til death…and it feels so good to get to that space where you’re not complaining, and worrying, and demanding that a person be a certain thing.”
An unbelievable experience. And a career moment I’ll be proud of forever.
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Back in Budapest: the wife got her Dany Leibovitz on. She captured the whole interview and snapped away. Beautiful art. Priceless moments. Thank you, babe.
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Danyel Smith + Elliott Wilson