Will Smith’s First Faith-Based Song ‘You Can Make It’ Debuts on Billboard Charts: ‘I Was Really Talking to Myself’
Written by djfrosty on July 9, 2024
Will Smith’s first Christian/gospel single, “You Can Make It,” featuring Fridayy and Sunday Service Choir, arrives on Billboard’s charts (dated July 13).
Released June 28, the track enters the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Gospel Songs chart at No. 3, as well as the multimetric Hot Christian Songs tally at No. 23.. It drew 726,000 in radio audience and 665,000 official U.S. streams and sold 1,000 through July 4, according to Luminate.
The screen star and rapper makes his first appearance on the rankings. His latest film, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, also starring Martin Lawrence, premiered June 7.
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“I was really talking to myself,” Smith tells Billboard of the song, which he co-wrote. “To see so many people resonate with the intention gives me a clear North Star for this next chapter of my creative life.”
Smith and Sunday Service Choir performed “You Can Make It” live for the first time at the 2024 BET Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 30, joined by Kirk Franklin and Chandler Moore.
Like Smith, R&B/hip-hop artist Fridayy earns his first Hot Gospel Songs top 10, while Sunday Service Choir adds its third. The track also opens in the top 10 on Gospel Digital Song Sales (No. 3), Christian Digital Song Sales (No. 6) and Gospel Streaming Songs (No. 10), as well as at No. 28 on Gospel Airplay.
Smith has scored a pair of No. 1s as a soloist on the Billboard Hot 100: “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” in 1998, and “Wild Wild West,” featuring Dru Hill and Kool Mo Dee, in 1999. He broke through in the late 1980s/early ‘90s as (the latter) half of duo D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, who reached a No. 4 Hot 100 high with “Summertime” in 1991, and as the lead on NBC’s pop-culture cornerstone The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Smith, who won a best actor Academy Award for his role in the 2022 film King Richard, and who has taken home four Grammy Awards, is reportedly working on a full Christian/gospel album.