Less than 2 years after dropping the provocative track “Entanglements,” August Alsina appeared to inject himself into the Jada Pinkett Smith/Will Smith narrative again this week with a new featuring some eyebrow-raising lyrics, “Shake the World.”
Alsina, who shared some calming thoughts last week just days after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face at the Academy Awards — vowing that he has decided to “choose peace” in an Instagram post — seemed to backtrack a bit on the song that dropped on Tuesday (April 5). “‘Cause goddamn it, that’s right/ I shake the world I heard it’s some s–t that’s bound/ To go down when you got/ A billion dollars on the elevator/ Well, of course some s–t was bound to go down/ When you tangled up with the world’s favorite,” he croons on the track.
The “tangled up” bit was an apparent callback to Pinkett Smith’s reference to her affair with Alsina as an “entanglement,” along with references to him being canceled in the lyrics: “I heard I was canceled/ Well, let’s not speak on that/ Red dot on my back, I became a target,” he sings. Alsina released “Entanglements” shortly after Will Smith and Pinkett Smith addressed the brief romance on an episode of her Red Table Talk series in 2020.
During the chat, Pinkett Smith said the affair with Alsina happened during a “very difficult time” in her marriage, with Smith adding, “I was done with your ass.” They said they separated at that time, at which point Pinkett Smith said the “entanglement” with Alsina took place. “And one thing I want to get clear about and clean up, one of the things that was kind of swirling in the press about you giving permission, which is, you know the only person who could give permission in that particular circumstance is myself,” Pinkett Smith said.
Smith added at the time that he wanted to clarify that it was more than “an entanglement,” it was a “relationship,” to which Pinkett Smith agreed. “Yes, it was a relationship, absolutely. I was in a lot of pain and I was very broken,” she said. “Now in the process of that relationship I definitely realized that you can’t find happiness outside of yourself.”
Back in August 2020, Alsina explained why he broke his silence on the affair, telling People at the time, “I never really cared about what people thought of me, but my personal life started to seep into my business life. There were certain falsities about me, and it affected my business relationships. I could understand why it would look like I’m reckless or disrespectful so it really started to affect my livelihood, and I’m never okay with that. I got three kids to look after. Kill me, hate me, stone me, but bury me an honest man. All I can do is tell the truth.”
Listen to “Shake the World” below.
