-Welcome back. Always great seeing you, buddy.
Congrats on the record. -Thank you so much.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-It's great. -I really appreciate it.
-You are on tour now for the album?
-Yeah. I am on tour right now.
It's my first solo tour, so I'm really excited.
It's very different. -Are you digging it?
Are you liking it? -Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ] It's a lot of fun, yeah.
-You're playing Highline Ballroom this weekend?
-Yes. -In New York?
-Yes, I am. I'm really nervous for that show.
That's gonna be a lot of fun. -Do you get nervous still?
-You know, I do get a little bit nervous sometimes,
because it's -- you know, when you're opening up for somebody,
you're like, "You know, if I mess up, you know,
Justin's gonna come in and kill it, so I'm fine."
But it -- You know, it's -- -When it's just you.
-When it's just me, it's like, "Man..."
I really want to give people a show.
I want to give -- give my all on stage, you know?
-I heard that -- and I don't know if it's true,
but, when you write these -- the songs on this record,
or in general... -Mm-hmm.
-...you freestyle a lot more than just write them out.
-Yeah, I do. You know, it kind of
just comes to me naturally, in a way,
where I just kind of -- I like to piece it together
just, like, piece by piece
instead of just writing it down.
'Cause I feel like, if I write something down in my notebook,
I'm like, "Now I have to say this. I wrote it down.
You know, I can't change it." -Right.
-So, when -- when I don't write it down,
it kind of gives me more freedom to go back, change lines,
and not really, you know --
If I write something, I'm like, "This is a poem,
and I want it to stay how it is,"
as opposed to, like, letting it become a song.
-So how long will you -- will you spit for?
Can I say spit? [ Laughter ]
-Usually it's just, like, small --
Usually it's just, like, small chunks that I'll do,
and then, like, I'll piece them together to make a longer song.
So, I'll just do something, like, really fast,
like four lines,
and then I will come back the next day
and then I'll do another four --
or I'll go in the studio and listen to them.
-'Cause I can't even do two lines.
-Yeah. Yeah, -I mean, I've tried. It's awful.
I mean, Black Thought, obviously --
Tariq -- can just crush.
He just goes, I mean -- -Oh, amazing.
-No, he is. -Amazing. Amazing.
[ Cheers and applause ]
So incredible. -But it's like a talent.
Could -- Could you give us maybe a taste of a freestyle?
Can you do -- -Yeah, I could try to --
I could try to make something up right now.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Do you want a beat or anything, or do you just wanna go?
-No, no. I'll go a cappella. I'll go a cappella.
Check it. Check this. So, it's like...
♪♪ People hit me on Twitter like, "Jaden, you wildin'" ♪♪
♪♪ Let me talk my piece on Jimmy Fallon ♪♪
♪♪ They hit me on the 'Gram like, "Jaden, you stylin'"
♪♪ You ain't know my swag was on a thousand ♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Come on, man. Thank you.
I hate to put people on the spot and do that,
but thank you for doing that. I appreciate it.
-No, of course. of course. And, honestly,
thank you so much for having me on the show, honestly.
-Oh, no. We love you. -I-I appreciate it so much.
-Dude, you work your butt off, man.
-Thank you. -I love --
Dude, you know -- I didn't even know you had a record out,
and then I saw the "Icon" video...
-Yeah. -...that went everywhere.
-Yeah. -And where was that
and what kind of car -- what --
It was just you in, like, a desert or something awesome?
-Yeah. Yeah. Like -- -So, where were you?
-Well, so, that's a place in Malibu
that I really like going to.
And the whole album is kind of about
me being obsessed with, like, the sunset
and, like, that's, kind of, like, the whole theme of it --
of, like, "Syre" where it's, like, the sunset.
I'm, like, so obsessed with,
so I went somewhere that I could see that pink sky.
And, honestly, that wasn't supposed to be the single.
I-I did a whole production for a whole nother video
that was supposed to be the single.
And, last second, we got the edit back,
and we were like, "Oh, my God,
like, we can't even see your face rapping.
Like, we didn't shoot it correctly.
Like, it -- it can't come out."
And we're like, "Oh, my goodness.
It can't come out. What do we have to do?"
And I'm like, "I shot this random thing
of me next to a car on the sunset.
Maybe just put that out. Just release that.
See if people like that."
And we did, and now it's just --
-But, I mean, that went everywhere.
That -- I was like -- -Yeah. It just went everywhere.
-The album has been streamed 100 million times.
I mean, that's -- -I can't even believe that.
-Isn't that the coolest thing ever, man?
-It's the coolest.
I'm just so happy that people love the art,
and it just makes me want to just keep going.
-Now, you have a remix coming out.
-Yes, I do have a -- a remix coming out.
We shot it in Colombia.
I went to go visit my dad,
and I was like, "You know, let's do two things here.
I'ma visit you, but let's shoot a music video, too."
[ Laughter ] You know what I'm saying?
-Got a little business in here.
-Do you know what I'm saying? -Yeah, we'll do family time.
-Let's try to -- You know what I'm saying?
You got streets blocked off and stuff.
Let's -- Let's use some of that. -Yeah.
-Um, so, so -- [ Laughter ]
-Why not, man?
-I shot a video with Nicky Jam. Shout out to Nicky Jam.
And we did a -- [ Sheers and applause ]
an "Icon" remix in Columbia, so I'm --
-When does that come out?
-That's gonna come out in two weeks.
-All right, it comes out in two weeks.
Tonight, you're performing "Icon,"
and in the back... -Yes.
-...you will see this -- the "iconic" video...
-Thank you. -...of Jaden Smith.
Thank you, buddy. Always good to see you.
[ Cheers and applause ]