Will Smith has received a request for a collaboration from Rakim after the Men in Black star admitted to trying to mimic the God MC on his hit song “Summertime.”
Smith made the admission last year during CBS’ A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop TV special while he was chatting to the legendary rapper backstage.
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“I was absolutely trying to sound like you on ‘Summertime,'” he told Rakim. “‘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.'”
After Smith reposted the clip on Instagram on Tuesday (July 23) to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of his and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s album Homebase, Rakim slid into the comments section with an exciting request.
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He wrote: “Peace Will !! Keep rockin bro, it’s time for SUMMERTIME PT 2 wit me on it !!!! lol.”
While Smith has yet to respond, many of his followers were on board with the idea, with one writing: “yesssss @willsmith & @djjazzyjeff please make this happen!!!”
Rakim has long been associated with “Summertime” due to an urban legend that he actually wrote the song for Will Smith.
The Paid In Full lyricist finally put the rumors to bed in a 2016 interview with HipHopDX where he said: “Nah, it was ironic that me and Eric B. had sampled it, and we had it ready to go.
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“When they came out with it, a lot of people thought it was me because of the style he used. But it was one of those things where that was them. I didn’t write it. That was Will and Jeff.”
Rakim also clarified that the beat itself — which sampled “Summer Madness” by Kool & The Gang — was “soft” and out-of-character for his natural baritone, so he was perfectly content with letting The Fresh Prince have it.
“It was something [Eric] had on the backburner,” he said. “Again, it was something that we wanted to use, but we felt that the time wasn’t right because of the choice of all the records that we had on the first album. But that’s a joint that you can’t deny.”
He continued: “You know, maybe it could’ve been hooked up a little more street-ready, and it was something that we thought was a hit record. But we didn’t want to come out and grasp on that first album. We was trying to ease back on that.”
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While it remains to be seen whether a “Summertime” sequel will happen, both Rakim and Will Smith are gearing up to make their return this year.
The former will release his first album in 15 years, God’s Network: Reb7rth, on July 26 and be joined on the project by fellow legends such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man and Kool G Rap, as well as fallen soldiers DMX, Nipsey Hussle and Prodigy.
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Smith is also prepping his first full-length release in almost a decade, kickstarting the rollout with the uplifting gospel single “You Can Make It” which he performed live at the 2024 BET Awards.
