Will Smith’s reintegration into the public eye will reportedly begin at next year’s Grammy’s with a Hip Hop 50 tribute.
According to Billboard, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince will reunite on stage in a star-studded performance.
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The Grammy Salute special will be taped on November 8 and air on December 10 starting at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Tickets are currently available for those in Los Angeles who want to attend the taping — get them here.
There’s a laundry list of rappers who are slated to contribute to the tribute spanning all different eras of Hip Hop’s 50 years. Some of the names include: Gunna, Jeezy, GloRilla, 2 Chainz, Latto, Jermaine Dupri, DJ Quik, E-40, LL COOL J, T.I. and more.
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The rest of the lineup includes: Arrested Development, Big Daddy Kane, Black Sheep, Cypress Hill, Digable Planets, Juvenile, Luniz, MC Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, Spinderella, Three 6 Mafia, Too $hort, Warren G, YG, Black Thought, Bun B, Common, De La Soul, J.J. Fad, Talib Kweli, The Lady Of Rage, MC Sha-Rock, Monie Love, The Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, Questlove, Rakim, Remy Ma, Uncle Luke and Yo-Yo.
The tribute will serve as one of Will Smith’s first major public appearances since his infamous Chris Rock slap at the 2022 Academy Awards last March. Smith has since been banned by The Academy from attending its events for a decade for his actions.
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DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith made Grammy history as “Parents Just Don’t Understand” became the first rap song to win a Grammy trophy in 1989, but weren’t invited to perform at the ceremony. However, the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” collaborators became the first rappers to perform at the award show a year later in 1990.
According to Questlove, Will Smith was actually supposed to appear in the Hip Hop 50 tribute at the Grammy Awards in February, but dropped out at the last minute.
The Roots drummer, who curated the all-star spectacle, revealed to Variety that Smith had initially agreed to dust off his Fresh Prince persona and join the celebration.
However, Quest explained that the 54-year-old was forced to drop out to due obligations with his upcoming movie Bad Boys 4.
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“I’ll give the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was a part of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting Bad Boys 4 this week,” he said. “There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.”
