Music is an old love and it's time to chase after the time I lost
Aos 55 anos, Will Smith chega ao Brasil não como estrela de cinema, mas como músico — uma distinção que ele mesmo faz questão de marcar. No dia 19 de setembro, ele sobe ao Sunset Stage do Rock in Rio 2024 para um set de vinte minutos, encerrando décadas em que sua identidade como rapper ficou à sombra de Hollywood. É o início de uma turnê mundial e, talvez, de uma reconciliação tardia com a arte que o tornou famoso antes dos filmes.
- Smith confessou nervosismo ao anunciar sua estreia no Rock in Rio como cantor — uma vulnerabilidade rara para alguém acostumado aos holofotes do cinema mundial.
- Sua identidade musical, construída com cinco álbuns e quatro Grammys, ficou soterrada por décadas de blockbusters e agora ressurge com lançamentos recentes nas paradas americanas.
- Os organizadores do festival quebraram a própria programação já fechada para abrir espaço para ele, reconhecendo o peso simbólico do momento para o público brasileiro.
- O set de vinte minutos no dia 19 de setembro, dividindo o cartaz com Ed Sheeran e Charlie Poot, é o ponto de partida de uma turnê global planejada para 2025.
- Smith define o momento como uma perseguição ao tempo perdido — uma frase que transforma a apresentação em algo maior do que nostalgia.
Will Smith chegará ao Brasil em setembro não para promover um filme, mas para cantar — e a diferença, segundo ele próprio, é enorme. Aos 55 anos, o ator e rapper anunciou sua estreia no Rock in Rio 2024 durante o Fantástico, da Globo, com uma honestidade desarmante: "Estou nervoso indo como cantor. Toda vez que vim ao Brasil foi para promover algum filme. Estar lá pelo Rock in Rio vai ser algo completamente novo para mim."
A carreira de Smith é um paradoxo bem-sucedido. Ele ganhou um Oscar por King Richard, estrelou Independence Day e Men in Black, tornou-se um dos rostos mais reconhecíveis do planeta. Mas também fez cinco álbuns, gravou rap e acumulou quatro Grammys. Essa parte de sua identidade foi engolida pelo sucesso em Hollywood. Agora, ele a resgata: lançou uma faixa gospel que estreou nas paradas da Billboard e, mais recentemente, o single Work of Art. A indústria musical observa se é um retorno genuíno ou apenas nostalgia.
Os organizadores do Rock in Rio não hesitaram. Com a programação já encerrada, abriram espaço para Smith no Sunset Stage do dia 19 de setembro. Zé Ricardo, vice-presidente de programação artística do festival, foi direto: "Não pensamos duas vezes. Não fazia sentido negar ao público algo tão significativo." O set de vinte minutos, com os maiores sucessos de sua carreira no hip-hop, antecede a apresentação de Gloria Groove e divide o dia com Ed Sheeran no palco principal.
Smith enquadrou o momento com uma frase carregada de significado: "A música é um amor antigo e é hora de correr atrás do tempo perdido." Ele planeja uma turnê mundial em 2025 construída em torno dessas apresentações. O Brasil, país onde esteve tantas vezes a serviço do cinema, será o palco de sua reinvenção — ou, talvez, de seu reencontro com quem ele sempre foi.
Will Smith is coming to Brazil as a musician, not a movie star—and that distinction matters to him. The 55-year-old actor and rapper announced his debut performance at Rock in Rio 2024 during an appearance on Fantástico, Globo's Sunday broadcast, and the nervousness in his voice was real. He has been to Brazil before, many times, but always in service of a film premiere. This time, on September 19, he will take the Sunset Stage for twenty minutes to perform the songs that defined his earlier career in hip-hop, before moving on to make way for Gloria Groove. "I'm nervous going as a singer," he said. "Every time I came to Brazil it was to promote some movie. Being there for Rock in Rio is going to be something completely new for me."
Smith's name is synonymous with cinema. He won an Oscar for King Richard. He has four Grammy Awards. He produced films and starred in blockbusters—Independence Day, Men in Black, and dozens of others that made him one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. But he also made five albums. He recorded rap singles. That part of his identity got buried under decades of Hollywood success, and now, at fifty-five, he is digging it back up. Earlier this year, he released a gospel track with a choir that debuted on the Billboard charts. He performed it first at the BET Awards. More recently came a single called Work of Art. The music industry is watching to see if this is a genuine return or a nostalgia play.
The Rock in Rio organizers did not hesitate. Even with the full lineup already locked in, they made room for Smith. Zé Ricardo, the festival's vice president for artistic programming, explained the decision plainly: "Will Smith wanted to do his show in Brazil and we didn't think twice. Even though the schedule was completely set, we understood that it didn't make sense to deny the public something this significant. He's a star—in film and in music." The festival itself is celebrating forty years this September, running across seven days from the 13th through the 22nd at Cidade do Rock. Smith shares the September 19 bill with Ed Sheeran on the main stage, among others.
Smith himself framed the moment as a reckoning with time. "Being there for Rock in Rio will be something special," he said. "Music is an old love and it's time to chase after the time I lost." That language—chasing lost time—suggests this is not a casual venture. He is mounting a world tour next year built around these performances. Brazil, a country where he has spent promotional time but never performed as a musician, is part of that global push. The twenty-minute set will draw from his greatest hits, the songs people remember from the nineties and early two-thousands, when he was as much a rapper as he was an actor.
Tickets remain available for several days of the festival through Ticketmaster. September 19, the day Smith performs alongside Ed Sheeran and Charlie Puth, is priced at R$397.50 for half-price admission, R$675.75 with an Itaú bank discount, and R$795 for full price. The festival runs through September 22, with September 21 dedicated to Brazilian artists and cultural celebration across twelve hours of programming. For Smith, this moment represents something he has been building toward quietly for years—a return to the music that made him famous before the movies took over, and a chance to prove that the two identities, actor and rapper, can coexist in the same career.
Citações Notáveis
I'm nervous going as a singer. Every time I came to Brazil it was to promote some movie. Being there for Rock in Rio is going to be something completely new for me.— Will Smith
Music is an old love and it's time to chase after the time I lost.— Will Smith
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does it matter that he's coming as a musician and not a film promoter?
Because for decades, Will Smith's music career was something he did before he became a movie star. Now he's saying that part of him still exists, and he wants to perform it on its own terms, not as a side note to a film release.
Is this a comeback or just nostalgia?
That's the real question. He's released new music—gospel, Work of Art—so it's not just playing old hits. But he's also fifty-five and hasn't been a working rapper in a long time. The world tour next year will tell us whether this is serious.
Why would Rock in Rio break their lineup for him?
Because he's Will Smith. He's one of the most famous people alive. And maybe because there's something compelling about watching someone reclaim a part of themselves they set aside. That's a story people want to see.
What does "chasing lost time" really mean?
It means he knows he stepped away from music. He's not pretending he didn't. He's saying it's time to go back and do it properly, not as a side project but as a real career move.
Will Brazilian audiences care?
They know him from the movies. But Brazil has a strong hip-hop culture. If he delivers a solid set of his old songs, they'll probably respond. The nervousness he expressed suggests he knows this matters—it's not a guaranteed win.