Questlove Explains Why Will Smith Wasn’t At Hip-Hop 50 Grammy Awards Performance
Will Smith was originally a part of the 50 years of hip-hop tribute at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards but had to drop out due to a conflict with production on Bad Boys 4.
“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,” Questlove told Variety on the Grammys red carpet. “There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.”
Adding that getting the actor booked for the performance was a “shot in the dark” since he is “always shooting movies.”
Smith, who is a four-time Grammy Award-winning artist, earned the award for “Best Rap Performance” back in 1989 for “Parents Just Don’t Understand”. In 1992, he also scored the award for “Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group” for “Summertime.” He went on to win “Best Rap Solo Performance” for “Men in Black” in 1998 and “Gettin’ Jiggy wit It” in 1999.
For the Hip-Hop 50 performance at the Grammys artists included Queen Latifah, L.L. Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Salt-N-Pepa, Rakim, Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Flava Flav, Big Boi of Outkast, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, Too Short, the Lox, Lil Baby, GloRilla, and others.
Last month Smith announced that the fourth film under the Bad Boys series was closer than fans think in an Instagram video on Jan. 31.
"I wish I was you, not knowing what I'm about to show me," Smith said while driving and filming.
Smith pulls up to a house, and Martin Lawrence answers the door.
"It's about that time?" Lawrence asks.
An official release date for the film has not yet been announced.
