Will Smith Breaks Into ‘Aladdin’ Song “Friend Like Me” With The Roots
Written by SOURCE on May 7, 2019
In a perfect world, Will Smith would be the nightly guest on The Tonight Show and/or any other late-night entity. Though we don’t live in said perfect world, we got close enough with Smith’s Aladdin-promoting appearance Monday night.
Speaking on his role of Genie in the live-action update of the 1992 classic, a fan-celebrated part previously nailed by the late Robin Williams, Smith elaborated further on his previous comments about how the film’s music served as his entry into bringing his own take to the part.
“[Questlove] will know this,” Smith said of his “Friend Like Me” update, complete with some classic “Impeach the President” drums. “What did it for me when I was messing with the music . . . I had ’em grab ‘Impeach the President’ by the Honey Drippers and he used the drums.”
As Smith explained how this sample got him excited about the Genie opportunity, Questlove joined underneath by playing through the drums section in question, with Mark Kelley quickly adding some bass flourishes. See the resulting “Friend Like Me” performance up top.
Elsewhere on Monday’s Tonight Show, Smith gave Fallon a play-by-play of his recent birthday bungee jump and faced off against the host in a “magic carpet race.’
Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie, opens May 24. Smith has several more notable projects on the agenda through 2020, including Ang Lee’s Gemini Man and a long-awaited Bad Boys sequel with Martin Lawrence.
