aladdin
[photo via YouTube]

‘Aladdin’ star Will Smith debuts rap version of ‘Friend Like Me’

The live-action Aladdin remake is headed our way soon, and Will Smith is playing the iconic character of the genie.

On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Smith talked about the role and eventually revealed he raps a classic song from the film. He even gave viewers a sneak peek at what it sounds like.

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It started when he talked about his touching tribute to Robin Williams, and what it was like to take on the role after him.

“Robin Williams smashed that role and when you look at things like that, you always try to find out what you would do differently,” he said. “I looked at it and the first thing was I didn’t feel like I wanted to touch it.”

However, after some time, he realized he wanted to mix up the music a bit, particularly the classic song “Friend Like Me.” He took the drums from the song “Impeach the President” by The Honey Drippers as a backdrop to his rap-version.

Then, he rapped the first verse of the huge song on the show, and it made us so excited to hear the whole thing.

You can watch Smith’s rapping in the video below.


For comparison, check out the original version below.

If you want to see more of Smith in action in the film, check out a clip Disney just released below.

Other Aladdin news

In other news, Disney dropped a trailer last month that gave us a huge dose of nostalgia by recreating classic scenes from the 1992 original film.

Previously, the film has released teasers that have caused some mixed reactions. This was mostly due to the first look at Smith in true Genie form.

Following the release of an Entertainment Weekly cover of the main characters in December, fans were disappointed to see Genie without his familiar blue skin tone.

Smith responded with an Instagram post assuring his followers that he would be blue in the film and that the promo photo was just Genie in his human disguise.

However, fans were less than enthused with the Genie’s blue hue following the trailer’s release.

A first look at characters such as Abu and Magic Carpet were also included. The film’s antagonist, Jafar, was also seen, but seemed less than enthused according to some.

“Everyone is talking about the Genie, but Jafar looks and sounds the most questionable. He’s so… plain,” Reddit user u/TheLiquidNight said.

Alongside Smith, Naomi Scott plays Jasmine in the film and Mena Massoud plays Aladdin himself. Billy Magnussen, Nasim Pedrad and Marwan Kenzari also star in the film.

Check out that trailer below.

Aladdin hits theaters May 24.

What did you think of Will Smith’s rapping? Sound off in the comments below!

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