Between the of and, more importantly, his , Will Smith has spent the past few months clawing his way back into Hollywood’s good graces. While he’s still and all of its events for the next near-decade, he’s shifted his focus to other realms—namely his long-dormant music career, which he revived in fiery fashion with a performance at the BET Awards last night. But while Smith probably could have accomplished all of this without mentioning the reason he needed to do a comeback tour in the first place, he’s taken a bit of a curious route in new single, “You Can Make It.
” Instead of leaving his absence unspoken, he’s essentially addressing The Slap head-on. Smith posted a video of his performance on Twitter/X last night, with the caption, “I have returned Home! The comeback is always bigger than the setback.” “Whatever’s going on in your life, I’m here to tell you you can make it,” Smith kicked off the performance Sunday night, while surrounded by a ring of fire.
He went on to rap a series of lyrics all surrounding the theme of overcoming hardship (via ): The on-the-nose performance was accompanied by the Sunday Service Choir, Chandler Moore and Kirk Franklin, and ended with a rainstorm that doused the flames. “Nobody gets an easy ride / We all have a cross to bear / But there’s wisdom in that fire / And every moment of your life is a brand-new opportunity / We are not being punished, we are being forged / Dance in your darkest moments,” Smith san.