Will Smith brought flames and faith to the stage at the BET Awards on Sunday.
Smith returned to his music roots with the debut of his new song, “You Can Make It.” Featuring Fridayy and the Sunday Service Choir, Smith rapped about perseverance in the gospel-infused song.
“The darker the hell you gotta endure / The brighter the heaven you get to enjoy / The harder the fall, the higher you soar,” Smith rapped, surrounded by pyrotechnic fire on the stage. “God opens a window when the devil closes the door / Believe me, they tried to bleed Will Smith / In the rearview, I see adversity was the gift / To lift me higher gifts requires faith.”
Smith’s performance at the BET Awards follows his surprise Coachella appearance in April, when he showed up during J Balvin’s set for a rowdy rendition of his track “Men In Black,” which was initially released in conjunction with his hit 1997 movie of the same name.
The “Independence Day” star’s new music is his first solo material in over five years, teeing up his first major music release since his “Lost and Found” album from 2005.
In recent years Smith has occasionally collaborated with other artists, including Bad Bunny and Marc Anthony. He dropped the EDM single “Get Lit” in 2017 and also released the track “Light ‘Em Up” with Sean Paul, which is on the soundtrack for his new film, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die.”
Smith is a four-time Grammy-winning artist, in the rap performance category both solo and as part of a duo or group. His first win was for the 1988 song “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” which he performed alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff as the Fresh Prince.
The pair also won for their 1992 track “Summertime.” As a solo artist, Smith won back-to-back rap performance Grammys in 1998 for “Men In Black,” and then “Gettin’ Jiggy with It” the following year.
