You ain’t never had a friend like Will Smith.
The Oscar-nominated actor is taking on one of his most challenging roles yet — that of filling the shoes of Robin Williams in Aladdin.
The late actor iconized the blue Genie in the 1992 animated film, with Smith now attempting to do the same in the live-action version that opens on May 24th.
One of The Genie’s most famous moments was surely his performance of “Friend Like Me”.
The Suicide Squad star, who is also a musician, has now decided to give a fresh spin to the classic song by doing a rap version.
Smith is joined on the track by DJ Khaled who is undoubtedly one of the biggest music producers at the moment.
“I went into the studio the first day and I really wanted to play with it to see if I could add something to it,” the 50-year-old said in a press statement. “Literally 30 minutes in the studio, and started to play with the song [and] the 94/96 BPM range. That BPM range is right old school hip hop.”
The actor previously told Ellen DeGeneres that his portrayal of The Genie was inspired by his character in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
From West Agrabah, born and raised.
