After teasing a performance that was “not to be missed”, Will Smith made his official comeback to the music world over the weekend.
While perhaps best known now for his work as an Oscar-winning actor, the former Fresh Prince star previously enjoyed a successful music career, even becoming the first rap artist to win a Grammy back in 1989.
Having kept something of a low-profile since the 2022 Oscars, where Will made headlines for an incident in which he slapped comedian Chris Rock, he teased last week that he would be releasing a new single, which he’d debut at Sunday night’s BET Awards.
During the ceremony, Will premiered his new track You Can Make It, performing with Kirk Franklin, Chandler Moore and the Sunday Service choir, best known for their work with Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West).
“I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but whatever’s going on in your life right now, I’m here to tell you, you can make it,” he said at the beginning of the motivational track.
Meanwhile, a clip of the performance shared on Will’s Instagram page included the caption: “The comeback is always bigger than the setback.”
Following the fall-out from the Oscars slap, Will was banned from the Academy Awards for 10 years, and in the years since, has since been taking time out of the spotlight.
However, he has made several film appearances, most notably in the historical thriller Emancipation and the latest Bad Boys movie Ride Or Die, which hit cinemas last month.
Back in April, Will also surprised fans when he joined J Balvin for an impromptu performance of Men In Black at Coachella.