Photo: Getty Images
Will Smith joins Questlove and Team Supreme on Questlove Supreme to talk about his new book, Will, his legendary career, and why honesty and vulnerability are making him feel stronger than ever. It leads to a really profound conversation about abusive fathers, trauma, insecurities, healing, the importance of friendship, and much more. Will even confesses to “a little bit of little-boy insecurity when The Roots are playing” because they’re “the real sound of Philly.” Plus, Questlove’s poker face when he’s playing walk-on music for the Tonight Show throws Will off: “Remember the one where I did the five entrances? All I could think was that you thought I was the corniest mo*******er who has ever walked out on the show!” Quest can’t believe it: “I thought that was so cool!”
The conversation is natural and free-flowing; Questlove and Will don’t miss a beat as they move from daily routines to ayahuasca experiences, Quincy Jones to Confucius, experiencing trauma to healing it. Will tells Questlove that he knew it would be hard for him to tell his story “without also telling Jada [Pinkett-Smith]’s story, or Alfonso [Ribeiro]’s story,” so when he finished his autobiography, he invited every single person he mentioned in it to Miami. He read the chapter that referenced them “to their face, so they know what I said,” then they were able to respond and he could make changes. That way, there were no surprises. In fact, the process led to some incredibly healing moments. “It was the first time my mother and I had ever talked about my father being abusive,” Will says. “Her hearing me read the chapter was the first time…it was gut-wrenching, but it was deeply purifying.”
It’s not all life lessons; of course, they get into music, too. Questlove hates “how you separate yourself from And In This Corner, which is literally my favorite record of yours.” Will quips, “Unfortunately, the public did not concur!” One member of Team Supreme, Laiya St. Clair, wonders who DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince should battle in Verzuz. “Some people say LL Cool J, but I’m like, ‘Are you crazy? That boy has like 20 albums! I’m not going to get bodied by LL,” Will laughs. But Quest might have the perfect matchup. Hear their entire fascinating and funny conversation on this episode of Questlove Supreme.
If you want to be sure you're listening to the podcasts everyone else is checking out, iHeartRadio has you covered. Every Monday, iHeartRadio releases a chart showing the most popular podcasts of the week. Stay up to date on what's trending by checking out the chart here. There's even a chart just for radio podcasts here, featuring all your favorite iHeartRadio personalities like Bobby Bones, Elvis Duran, Steve Harvey and dozens of others.