Rakim & Will Smith: Looking Back at the Legendary Studio Session

Rakim and Will Smith just shared a full-circle moment. Following Smith’s performance as part of the Grammy’s Hip-Hop 50, video of their interaction circulated on social media. During the brief clip, Smith recounts the studio session in which he recorded the DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince hit “Summertime” and revealed Rakim was the source of the sonic direction of the track.

“I was absolutely trying to sound like you on ‘Summertime,'” Smith said in part. “I had been screaming all night and I couldn’t get my happy-go-lucky high voice and Hula said, ‘Yo just give me that Rakim s###.'”

Smith previously remarked on the recording during a 2020 podcast interview in which he claimed Rakim was his favorite rapper long before he got into the booth to record the Hip-Hop classic.

Rakim reposted the clip on his Instagram page and wrote “All love” in the caption.

In addition to receiving praise from Smith, Rakim was also a given his flowers by Ed Lover during a Hip-Hop 50 panel conversation with the New York Giants. Along with explaining his relief that Hip-Hop’s tree of life originates from Rakim’s own lineage, Lover claimed there wouldn’t be MCs such as Nas and JAY-Z without The God MC’s influence.

Check out the clip below.