Will Smith takes it to church at the BET Awards in first show appearance since infamous Chris Rock Oscars slap

The jiggy is back.After the slap that shook the Academy Awards in 2022, Will Smith got his rap groove back at the BET Awards on Sunday night.The 53-year-old Oscar and Grammy winner performed his new single “You Can Make It,” a gospel-charged testimony — featuring Haitian-American singer Fridayy and the Sunday Service Choir — that was released on Friday.The performance marked the first time Smith appeared at an awards show since he infamously slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face for a joke at the expense of Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.“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,” raps Smith, sounding more like the Fresh Preacher.“Believe me, they tried to bleed Will Smith/In the rearview, I see adversity was the gift/To lift me higher gifts require faith/So dry your eyes and then you’ll find the way,” he continues over the take-you-to-church arrangement.It all continues the Oscar Slapgate redemption tour that Smith has been on since “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” opened to boffo box office on June 7, reestablishing the actor as a bankable movie star.But now, the “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” MC is looking to regain the music cred that led DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince to receive the first Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 1989.Smith wasn’t the only rap icon to take the stage at the 2024 BET Awards: Ms.Lauryn Hill celebrated the 25th anniversary of her Album of the Year Grammy win for her 1998 classic “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”Also performing at the show — hosted for the fourth time by Taraji P.

Henson — were Megan Thee Stallion, Ice Spice, Latto, Victoria Monét, Shaboozey, Tyla and Glorilla....