Actor and musician Will Smith. Photo / Getty
Will Smith's return to music has been universally panned with one critic calling his new song, "a glorious disaster".
The 49-year-old Men in Black star and his longtime collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff debuted their new electronic dance music song, Get Lit, at the Livewire Festival in August.
Smith, whose last album was released in 2005, told the crowd at the music festival that he "wanted to make a record that reminded each and every one of y'all to let your light shine".
Some of the lyrics include:
"We smart and naughty and we get lit
My people, good before evil
Big Will the sequel 'bout to get lit
This track is my kinda wave
If you're on the same page, come and get lit
'Cause we ain't stopping till we, light up the place
We ain't part of them Megatrons
We transform and get lit"
But the reaction to the song, which is available on Spotify, has been more "LOL" than "lit".
Here's how some music writers around the world have reviewed Get Lit:
• "It was endearing when Smith rapped about how parents just don't understand in 1988, but in 2017, hearing a 49-year-old talk about getting 'lit' comes off as a Steve Buscemi, 'How do you do, fellow kids?' moment." - Derrick Rossignol from Uproxx
• "The Wild Wild West movie of Will Smith singles - a frankly f**king mental genre leap that's actually kinda fascinatingly s**t, rather than the Collateral Beautyof Will Smith singles (just plain sh**). Jaden needs a better password on his laptop, because I am one billion per cent his dad, in actual Yer Da mode, raided his Tidal (Jaden is definitely a Tidal guy), found the playlist titled 'Major Lazer is doooope!!!!!!!!' then searched his Facebook inbox for hip young phrases-cum-song titles." - Al Horner from Fact Mag
• "The real tragedy here is not that the song is bad, which it is. It's that Smith may be attempting to relive his younger days by updating his party raps and adopting what he thinks the kids will embrace. He doesn't need to do this, is the weird part, as he definitely doesn't require the cash nor does he need the cultural cache. What we have is just a man flailing needlessly against the riptide of time." - Phil Witmer from Noisey
• "The total absurdity of Get Lit renders it not only hilarious, but, in a way, the most profound music Will Smith has ever made. Its vacancy is so pure that it verges on the existential, the mystical - perhaps even the divine, for only a god could be capable of such perfect lack of meaning." - Frank Guan from Vulture
• "Christ. You know it's bad if I, a dad, think something is too dad-like. Was this mixed inside a tractor engine? Join us next week when Will drops his next three songs, Woke AF, YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, and [prayer emoji]." - Drew Magary from GQ
• "It's official. 'Lit' is no more. Not when old man Will Smith is building sh**ty, deafening EDM songs around the millennial buzzword." - Randall Colburn from Consequences of Sound
• "It's not as desperate as MC Hammer suddenly going gangster, or as out of left field as Bob Dylan rapping with Kurtis Blow, but it's pretty close to your dad turning up Look What You Made Made Do and doing the Dougie in front of your friends at your bar mitzvah." - Alex McLevy from AV Club
You can listen to the full track below. We dare you:
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