Will Smith was back in black for Coachella.
While the first weekend of the 2024 music festival was full of cameos and unexpected appearances, none were more surprising than Smith’s, who reprised his role from 1997’s Men in Black to perform the movie’s theme song. The Oscar winner, 55, came out during J Balvin’s extraterrestrial-themed set on Sunday, April 14, decked out as “Agent J,” including the MiB’s signature Ray Bans.
From there, Smith joined the 38-year-old reggaeton singer and his numerous alien backup dancers to wow the Coachella crowd, rapping and dancing in front of a giant alien head.
Toward the end of the performance, two other MiB agents escorted Balvin away from “Agent J.” Smith then brought out his neuralyzer — the memory-wiping tool from the Men in Black universe — to zap the audience and make it seem like the MiB were never there. Thankfully, clips of Smith’s performance weren’t affected, and excited fans shared his MiB comeback online soon after.
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Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and his son, Jaden Smith, were reportedly in the audience to witness Will’s musical return. Jaden, 25, was spotted hanging out with his friends, including Justin Bieber, around Coachella on Saturday, April 13.
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Though Will has transitioned out of music to focus strictly on his acting career, the man once known as “The Fresh Prince” began his career as a rapper alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff. After releasing a handful of albums in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Will became a solo artist in 1997 with Big Willie Style. The album contained the Men in Black theme, along with the massive hit “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and Top 20 hits “Just the Two of Us” and “Miami.”
Will’s last album was 2005’s Lost and Found. While he has seemingly ended his full-time music career, he appeared on a few singles in the late 2010s, including “Live it Up,” Nicky Jam’s official theme song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
This Men in Black performance was the first time Will and J Balvin shared the stage, but it isn’t the first time they’ve musically crossed paths. In 2018, Will posted an Instagram video of him rocking out to J Balvin and Nicky Jam’s “X.” J Balvin also teamed with Black Eyed Peas for “Ritmo,” a collab for the Bad Boys for Life soundtrack.
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J Balvin performed “Ritmo” at Coachella, right before Will came out for his Men in Black performance. Though J Balvin performed his collabs with Bad Bunny (“La canción”), Cardi B (“I Like It”) and Rosalía (“Con Altura”), none of them came out during his set.
J Balvin ended the set with an alien dance break to “Que Calor” and “In Da Ghetto.” At the end of his performance, he said in Spanish, “New season coming soon,” before exiting the stage.
