It might be the season of The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s “Summertime”, but Will Smith wants you to take your car out of cruise because he has a new song for you to hear, dropping “You Can Make It” at this week’s BET Awards.
Smith hasn’t made too many public appearances since he slapped Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022. But with the release of Bad Boys: Ride or Die last month, he has been popping up more frequently. Now, Will Smith has returned to the awards stage – backed by choir, no less – to deliver the moment of the BET Awards.
As per Rolling Stone, Will Smith’s song had partial lyrics that went: “The darker the hell you gotta endure, the brighter the heaven you get to enjoy/The harder the fall, the higher you soar/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.” Smith was made by those in his camp as something of a pariah in the wake of The Slap, something that does seem reflected in these lyrics.
Ahead of his BET performance, Will Smith took to social media to write, “Through some of my darkest moments, music has always been there for me — to lift me and help me grow. It’s my humble wish that it can do the same for you and bring you all the joy and light you deserve.”
“You Can Make It” marks the second single for Will Smith this year following a track he did for the latest Bad Boys movie. Prior to that, it had been nearly two decades since he dropped some beats for 2005’s Lost in Found album. But with this BET performance and a recent throwback one at Coachella, Will Smith could be looking to make a comeback on the mic, too.
Outside of music and his showstopping BET Awards turn, Will Smith crushed the box office with Bad Boys: Ride or Die crushed at the box office and he is aiming to keep that going with upcoming project Resistor.
What role do you think his music and BET performance will play for Will Smith going forward? Is his comeback near completion? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below.