Will Smith Says He Hated Being Called ‘Soft’ For Not Cursing In Songs

Will Smith Reflects On His Rap Career With David Letterman

Will Smith opens up about his rap career when he sad down with David Letterman during an episode of “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction”, which was recorded before the Oscars slap.

Will says he “hated” being called “soft” because he didn’t curse in his songs.

Letterman asked Will if he faced any pressure to quit music, to which he said, “Not pressure as much as it was always that I was soft. I hated that, being called soft.” Will consciously moved to avoid expletives in most of his discography.

 

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The “King Richard” actor said the main reason he didn’t curse was because of something his grandma said to him when he was 12. She wrote him a letter after finding Smith’s rap lyric notebook which had some expletives in it, “Dear Willard, truly intelligent people do not have to use words like these to express themselves.

Please show the world that you’re as smart as we think you are. Love, Gigi,” she wrote. “That was the reason I never cursed in any of my records,” Smith told Letterman.

Will Smith also claims he had a premonition that his career would be “destroyed” whilst he was tripping on ayahuasca – a psychoactive herbal drink with powerful hallucinogenic properties.

This was before the now-infamous incident in which he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, resulting in his resignation from the Academy.