Will Smith announces return to music at festival in France
Will Smith is readying his return to music. The rapper and actor is set to perform at the POSITIV Festival in France on July 31st, which will take place at the at the Roman Theatre of Orange.
The news comes amid plans by Smith to release a new album after signing a deal with SLANG. In July this year, he released his single ‘Work of Art’ as a collaboration with his son, Jaden Smith, along with Russ. Prior to that, he dropped ‘You Can Make It’ alongside Fridayy and the Sunday Service Choir. He also teamed up with Sean Paul on ‘Light Em Up’ from the Bad Boys: Ride or Die soundtrack.
During an interview with BFA Collective in July, Will Smith revealed he was working on a “powerful” new album that he believes is his most personal to date.
“Over the past year and a half, I’ve been in the studio,” he said. “I have a project that is the most personal and powerful music project I’ve ever done. The idea of the music is, ‘Dance in your darkest moments.'”
Will Smith spoke more about the material in September, detailing the gospel sound and all of the honesty that has gone into the music.
“The last couple of years have been a real soul-searching experience for me,” he told Get Up! Mornings with Erica Campbell. “I had to move past my superhero persona and dig into something more authentic … It’s about the parts of me where I’m scared or confused. It’s from a place of real honesty.”
He continued, “I don’t see it as just making a gospel record. It’s more about what feels true to me and what can help others. I grew up in the church, and that background influences everything I do. My grandmother played Mahalia Jackson every day. Performing in the church choir was my first real experience with music.”
Smith released his last album, Lost and Found, in 2005, debuting at number six on the Billboard 200 chart; it was home to the singles ‘Switch’ and ‘Party Starter’. His final album as half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Code Red, arrived in 1993.
As far as public appearances in music this year, he joined J. Balvin during his Coachella set in April and performed ‘You Can Make It’ at the BET Awards in June.