Will Smith, alongside being an actor, has also been a rapper for many years of his career. With several music records and albums to his name, Smith had been notoriously on the bad side of Eminem for quite some time.
With a different view on the type of music that both the rappers created, Smith had once commented on Eminem’s music. Smith later stated that his music was deemed as “soft” due to the hardcore rap taking place in the music industry. Eminem, in his later songs, went on to diss the American actor.
When Will Smith Was Called “Soft”
Being two very distinct kinds of rappers, it was natural that Will Smith and Eminem went on to diss each other and the music that they create. Back when Smith was active in the music industry, the Emancipation actor had some controversial opinions surrounding the industry that he worked in.
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Stating that his music was something that was very lighthearted and funny, the actor revealed that it made them different from the rest of the group.
“That was really our major distinguishing quality at the time. It was comedy, it was punchlines, it was fun. We stood out in a really good way. We sort of had our own lane,”
After the industry started getting more into hardcore rapping and depictions of violent imagery, the actor lost his way in the field. Talking about it in the My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, Will Smith revealed that there was no pressure from the industry but he just hated being called “soft”.
“Not pressure as much as it was always that I was soft. I hated that, being called soft.”
The actor even went on to diss Eminem for Smith had different views on the usage of profanities in songs. This led to the American rapper dissing Will Smith in the song “The Real Slim Shady”.
When Will Smith And Eminem Went Head-To-Head
When Smith stated that he did not like cussing in his songs and gently poked Eminem for doing it way too much, it was too much for the Rap God singer to handle. In his song The Real Slim Shady, Eminem dissed the actor for his views on profanities. Singing along the lines of “Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records. Well I do, so fu*k him and fu*k you too” the rapper dissed Smith. Smith went on to state that the music industry was very gangster-esque and the violent depiction was not good for people.
“The music business is the most horrible, disgusting, gangster-infested business in the world, next to probably boxing. There are so many things that are so much more important.”
The actor further stated,
““There’s not a hard-core rapper or a gangster rapper that makes more money than me. If they’re telling kids that this is the way to make money, then I’m saying that if you want to make a little money, that’s the way, but if you really want to get paid, then I’m showing you the real road.”
In the end, the two were just being friendly and no offense was given and none was taken. Will Smith stated that he did not mean to disregard anyone’s opinions but that he was just giving Eminem an option.
Source: Cheatsheet
