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» Jaden Smith’s new song is about how he feels like Dragon Ball’s anime hero Goku

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Jaden Smith’s new song is about how he feels like Dragon Ball’s anime hero Goku

Casey Baseel Oct 9, 2018
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Apparently nothing makes Will Smith’ son feels like a martial arts hero like getting his credit card rejected.

In following the course his father Will took to stardom, Jaden Smith regularly hops back and forth between acting and musical projects. His latest audio effort was just released this week, and its title is something that will either sound like complete gibberish or create an instant mental image, depending on how versed you are in Japanese pop culture.

Since you’re here on SoraNews24, we’re going to guess you’re in the group that hears Smith’s new song is called “Goku,” and immediately realizes it’s a reference to the protagonist of perennially popular martial arts anime/manga Dragon Ball.

However, if you’re expecting “Goku” to be full of samples from Dragon Ball Z opening theme “Cha-La Head-Cha-La,” or to contain snippets of dialogue with the series’ heroes shouting out the names of their most powerful attacks, you’re going to be disappointed, Smith’s song doesn’t show any anime music or J-pop influences. There are several points in the lyrics where Smith declares “I feel like I’m Goku,” but even then the context is kind of weird, since the statement most commonly shows up as part of the following rhyme:

“My credit card didn’t go through
I’m ballin’ I feel like I’m Goku”

Sure, “ballin’” is a bit of a reference to “Dragon Ball,” but is there any point in the series where we see Goku whip out plastic to purchase something? For that matter, why does Smith feel like Goku when his credit card gets rejected? Did his hair turn blond in the promotional still for “Goku” as a strange metaphor of his belief that in order to go Super Saiyan, you have to not only push yourself beyond your inner power limits, but to live beyond your financial means too?

Speaking of the promotional image, that’s Tokyo otaku district Akihabara in the background. Smith is standing (though something about the lighting makes it look like he may have been digitally inserted into the scene) across the street from the local branch of delicious taiyaki sweet bean cake shop Kurikoan, which adds a comedic subtext to the whole thing, as though he’s just had his card rejected while trying to buy one of the 130-yen (US$1.20) desserts.

Overall, the song has plenty of bombast that doesn’t really seem mesh with the Dragon Ball star’s unassuming, unworldly, has-never-kissed-a-girl personality. For anyone out there who finds themselves wishing for a stronger connection between “Goku” and, well, Goku, there’s already a fan-made anime music video for Smith’s song.

You can probably expect to see many more at your local anime convention.

Source: YouTube/Jaden Smith via The A.V. Club
Top image: YouTube/Jaden Smith