It’s been a whole decade since you’ve heard any new verses from Will Smith. Instead, Smith has been busy raising fascinating children and starring in waveringly fascinating films. Now, however, Will-Smith-the-rapper is back… at least for a few bars… on this remix… of another artist’s song. But it’s still something!
The track is called “Fiesta,” and it’s by the Colombian group, Bomba Estéreo, whose EDM stylings are laced with what’s been classified as “psychedelic cumbia” and Colombian folk music traditions. “Fiesta” is a particularly funk-influenced song, with Smith chiming in at around the 1:06 mark asking “mamacita” to get him a “beer-a.” From there, he references Tesla and Sofia Vergara, and self-describes as “the Fresh one.” As The Verge notes, the track sees him cursing a couple of times, which is a divergence for Smith as a rapper — as he’d formerly avoided it after he’d been admonished by his grandmother for it.
Allegedly, it was Smith who approached the band about working together, after he’d heard their music while visiting Colombia. Founding Bomba Estéreo member Simón Mejia said in a statement:
When I was told that Will Smith wanted to collaborate on a remix with Bomba, I couldn’t believe it… This opportunity to work with Will was beyond anything we have dreamed of. It’s not a traditional featuring – it’s just magic. We all had a blast together at the video shoot, and we want to thank Will for being so warm and such a pleasure to work with … and for rapping in Spanish.
The music video Mejia mentions was, according to Rolling Stone, shot in LA, and will be released soon. Smith had also referenced considering a return to music earlier this year when he’d visited the studio with Kanye, “exploring” the options of what he might do. Listen to the track: