Will Smith says that he was “absolutely” trying to copy Rakim‘s style on his hit song, “Summertime.” During the GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop event, earlier this month, the rapper-turned-actor admitted to biting the legendary artist’s style.
“I was absolutely trying to sound like you on ‘Summertime,'” Smith began. “‘Cause I had been screaming all night, and I couldn’t get my ‘happy-go-lucky’ high voice. And [the producer] just said, ‘Yo, just gimme that Rakim shit.’” Rakim later shared the clip on Instagram with the caption: “All love.”
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Will Smith Poses With Jazzy Jeff
Portrait of hip hop duo Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, late 1980s or 1990s. Pictured are DJ Jeff Townes (Jazzy Jeff) (left) and rapper Will Smith (the Fresh Prince). (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff dropped “Summertime” as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Homebase, back in 1991. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 1992 Grammy Awards after reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the duo’s second win in the category after taking home the inaugural award for “Parents Just Don’t Understand” in 1989. Check out Smith’s latest comments on the comparisons to Rakim below.
Rakim previously revealed that he and Eric B. actually had similarly sampled “Summer Madness” by Kool & The Gang for a single of their own. “Nah, it was ironic that me and Eric B. had sampled it, and we had it ready to go,” he told HipHopDX in 2016. “But when they came out with it, a lot of people thought it was me because of the style [Will] used. But it was one of those things where that was them. I didn’t write it. That was Will and Jeff.” Be on the lookout for further updates on Will Smith on HotNewHipHop.
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