--- title: Will Smith Performs Gettin Jiggy Wit It on David Letterman Show: Video description: Watch Will Smith perform Gettin Jiggy Wit It on the Late Show With David Letterman canonical: https://time.com/3714848/will-smith-david-letterman-gettin-jiggy-wit-it/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-19T16:25:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:00.900Z og:title: Watch Will Smith Tell David Letterman He Could Rap "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" If He Wanted to in a Hilarious Interview og:description: And he performed his rap classic for the 'Late Show' audience og:url: https://time.com/3714848/will-smith-david-letterman-gettin-jiggy-wit-it/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb90fd87205ca97aa/6987806355a859404ca85f32/will-smith-david-letterman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: will smith david letterman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Will Smith Tell David Letterman He Could Rap "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" If He Wanted to in a Hilarious Interview twitter:description: And he performed his rap classic for the 'Late Show' audience twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb90fd87205ca97aa/6987806355a859404ca85f32/will-smith-david-letterman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Will Smith Perform 'Gettin' Jiggy Wit It' on the _Late Show with David Letterman_ > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 19, 2015 4:25 PM UTC  by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 19, 2015 4:25 PM UTC Will Smith may be more of an actor than a rapper these days, but when he’s out promoting a movie, he seems like he is always happy to drop a few verses on an always-appreciative audience. On Wednesday night, he stopped by the _Late Show with David Letterman_ and showed off his still-fresh skills with some solid bars of his old-school rap classic, “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” with Paul Shaffer and the _Late Show_ band backing him up. This latest walk down memory lane comes a few weeks after [Smith beatboxed “It Takes Two”](http://time.com/3698687/will-smith-jimmy-fallon-beatbox-it-takes-two/) with Jimmy Fallon over an iPad app on _The Tonight Show_. See the full clip below: ### Photos: David Letterman’s Early Career  One of David Letterman's earliest roles before he made it as a television host was as a guest star on Mork & Mindy. CBS/Getty Images  Before he received his own show, Letterman was a regular guest host for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Above, he is seen interviewing Betty White. Paul Drinkwater—NBC/Getty Images  In 1980, Letterman finally got his own morning comedy show, The David Letterman Show. Above, he is seen interviewing Truman Capote. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  After the cancellation of his morning show, Letterman was given a new show and time slot, Late Night With David Letterman which immediately followed The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The first version of the Late Night franchise, debuted on February 1, 1982 and would eventually be succeeded by Conan O’Brien, seen above. Al Levine—NBC/Getty Images  Letterman left NBC for CBS to start the Late Show with David Letterman when NBC gave the reigns of The Tonight Show to Jay Leno instead of him after Johnny Carson's retirement. The first show debuted on August 30, 1993, with Letterman's retirement announced for 2015. 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