Will Smith had better not give up his day job in acting.
Will’s “Based on a True Story,” his first rap album in 20 years, has been a colossal sales dud.
Through today, “True Story” has sold just 699 paid downloads.
If you include streaming, the total is only 14,500. All of this includes pre-sales.
So far, there’s been little interest in “Based on a True Story” outside of its opening week on March 28th.
It’s hard to say how committed Will was to the project. He could have played Coachella and gotten a lot of attention. But he didn’t. He also hasn’t been very visible on TV.
One reason for the low profile is that still, three years later, his Oscars slap of Chris Rock is an obstacle in interviews. He still can’t explain it and hasn’t really seemed contrite. He’s also still banned for 7 more years from the Oscars.
Videos from “Based on a True Story” also haven’t been watched much. The one below, “Beautiful Scars,” has 6.6 million views over two weeks. Sounds like a lot, but it’s not. The others from the album haven’t come close to that number.
