Will Smith makes his surprise and soulful return-to gospel, not rap. His forthcoming album, Dance in Your Darkest Moments, represents a serious turn in his career, mixing spirituality, resilience, and faith into an inspiring new chapter.
The first single from the album, “You Can Make It,” which came out on June 28, 2024, has already stolen hearts. The song, featuring rising star Friday and the uplifting Sunday Service Choir, sends a strong message of making it through and giving hope. Smith introduced the song with an unforgettable live performance at the 2024 BET Awards, where gospel legends Kirk Franklin and Chandler Moore joined him to just render the audience completely floored and to set up this probably groundbreaking album.
Smith credits his grandmother, who introduced him to the church and singing, as his foundational influence.
Raised with a deep connection to faith, he now feels called to channel that energy into his music. “As you can imagine, I have done a lot of soul-searching,” Smith said in an interview. “This is not about making music; this is about sharing my heart and my journey with the world. Gospel is where I have landed, and it feels like home.”
The theme of the album is resilience through adversity-a reflection of Smith’s life experiences, as he works his way through adversity with joy and positivity. He says that in creation, he felt “like a new artist” even though decades are behind him in this entertainment industry.
“You Can Make It”, meanwhile, has already made many heads turn as it moved to No. 3 on the Billboard Gospel Songs chart and No 23 on the Billboard Christian Song chart upon its release. His excited fans have celebrated his comeback on social media, referring to the work as “uplifting” aside from being “exactly we need right now”.
Equally exciting collaborations arise with Smith diving deep into gospel. Christian rapper Lecrae and legendary gospel artist Kirk Franklin both give their contributions to this album. Smith has also flirted with inspiration taken from legendary gospel legend CeCe Winans, who blended traditional with new in a fresh, timeless kind of way.
It’s been a very emotional process for Smith, who feels that this album represents lessons and values he has learned throughout his life. One of the most touching moments came when Smith paid his respects to the late Quincy Jones, who died at the beginning of this year.
Smith credited Jones, whom he referred to as his mentor and father figure, with guiding him through some of the most important moments of his career. “Quincy showed me what kind of legacy I want to leave,” he said. Even though Dance in Your Darkest Moments is still in its infancy, Smith is resolute to further embark on this journey into gospel music as a way of extending hope and light to an apparently needy world. “The idea that you can make it, no matter what, is what my heart wants to say to the world,” he shared.
