fresh-prince

Will Smith Goes Full Kanye In His 2024 BET Awards Performance With A Brand-New, Inspirational Song

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Will Smith took a page from the book of Kanye West — fortunately, not the one about Jewish people — for his 2024 BET Awards performance, employing a full Sunday Service-esque choir (led by Kirk Franklin, naturally) to accompany him as he debuted an inspirational new song, “Bulletproof.” The stage was set up like something West would have deployed during his Donda era, replete with dancing flames and extremely Yeezy wardrobe to boot — pun intended. If Will Smith wants to move into the space recently vacated by the disgraced Kanye, though, we could do worse.

Smith certainly has had his share of self-inflicted tribulations over the last couple of years. Those stem, of course, from the 2022 Academy
Awards, when Smith walked onstage to slap the host, comedian Chris Rock, after Rock made some disparaging remarks about Smith’s wife(?), Jada Pinkett Smith. Since then, due to Will and Jada’s promotional tours for their respective memoirs, the rapper/actor fell out of public favor for some time due to their persistent oversharing.

However, you’re only ever one hit away from a comeback, and in Will’s case, that hit is Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, which is not only dominating the box office, but also reminding people why they loved the Philly native as an actor in the first place. With his new song, he’s really returning to his Fresh Prince roots, and perhaps on the cusp of a musical comeback, as well.

You can watch Will Smith’s 2024 BET Awards performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.

Will Smith Admits “Martin” Was Funnier Than “Fresh Prince”

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Will Smith says that he used to study Martin Lawrence in “pure jealousy” of how funny he could be. While sitting down with his Bad Boys: Ride or Die co-star for an interview on Night Cap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, Smith discussed which of their two classic sitcoms was funnier. Smith famously starred on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996 while Lawrence starred on his iconic self-titled show from 1992 to 1997.

“Martin was hands down funnier than me,” Smith said. “Like, I used to study this dude in pure jealousy at the level of comedic genius that he could portray. I’m an actor that needs a script. Martin, you can just roll and say, ‘go,’ just let it rip and make it up and different takes and all of that, just how he’ll use his body and he’ll look and notice something in the room and grab it and use it in the next– it’s a level of comedic genius that is stunning to me.” From there, Lawrence thanked him for the kind words.

Read More: Martin Lawrence Suggests Will Smith Oscars Slap Won’t Keep Another “Bad Boys” From Happening

Will Smith & Martin Lawrence Walk Red Carpet For “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die” Screening

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – JUNE 1: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence pose during the red carpet for the movie ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ at Cinepolis Parque Toreo on June 1, 2024, in Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico. (Photo by Angel Delgado/Getty Images)

Smith’s praise of Lawrence comes as the two are promoting their newest film together, Bad Boys: Ride or Die. The movie hit theaters on this Friday, June 7. In addition to the two comedic legends, it stars Joe Pantoliano, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Jacob Scipio, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Rhea Seehorn, Melanie Liburd, Tiffany Haddish, and DJ Khaled.

Will Smith Reflects On “Martin” & “Fresh Prince”

Check out Smith’s comments on working with Lawrence above. Be on the lookout for further updates on Will Smith on HotNewHipHop.

Read More: Will Smith Recalls “The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air” Premiering 33 Years Ago

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