Will Smith looked at his kingdom… he was finally there to sit on his throne as the Prince of the BET Awards.
Smith returned to his rap roots and debuted a new song live at the 2024 ceremony, hosted by Taraji P. Henson. Smith performed his new song “Dance in Your Darkest Moments,” no doubt in response to the controversial Oscar slap that saw his career, temporarily, go into freefall.
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Performing in a blatantly symbolic ring of fire, Smith rapped passionately about going through tough times and coming out the other end. He was joined onstage by the gospel group Sunday Service and gospel legend Kirk Franklin. “Dance in Your Darkest Moments” may be the title track of a new album by Smith.
For his surprise performance at Coachella with J. Balvin back in April, Smith posted the clip with the hashtag #DanceInYourDarkestMoments.
Smith continued his return to music with a new Sean Paul collaboration “Light Em Up,” which was featured on the soundtrack for his latest film, Bad Boys: Ride or Die. The song marked his first release in nearly half a decade, following his guest appearance on Joyner Lucas’ “Will (Remix)” in 2020.
Meanwhile, the fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise added some much-needed blockbustin’ to the summer box office, debuting with $56 million and grossing nearly $300 million worldwide since opening earlier this month.
The Oscar winner joined fellow performers GloRilla, Ice Spice, Latto, Ms. Lauryn Hill, YG Marley, Muni Long, Sexyy Red, Shaboozey, Tyla, and Victoria Monét for the annual awards show celebrating the best in Black culture.
This is one of Smith’s first awards show appearances since slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, which earned him a 10-year ban from that stage. But Smith was welcomed with open arms to the BET Awards and received a standing ovation after his performance.