Oscar winner and R&B/hip-hop mainstay Will Smith jumped four spots to No. 1 Bulletin boardGospel Airplay Chart (dated December 21) with “You Can Make It” with Friday and Sunday Liturgy. The song marks the first lead of each act on the list.
During the tracking week of December 6-12, the collaboration, which Smith co-wrote, saw a 24% increase in projects, according to Luminate.
“I am very honored to have the No. 1 gospel record in the country for the first time in my career,” says Smith Bulletin board. “'You Can Make It' is such a deeply personal song for me, so I'm grateful that it connected so much with radio and my fans. Thanks to gospel radio for the recognition. I'm excited to bring more music to my fans in 2025!”
Smith, who starred in this year's hit film Bad Boys: Ride or Die alongside Martin Lawrence, rules Gospel Airplay with his first chart entry. He has scored a pair of No. 1 as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100: “Gettin' Jiggy Wit It” in 1998 and “Wild Wild West” with Dru Hill and Kool Mo Dee in 1999. Made it in the late 1980s/early '90s as (the latter) half of DJ duo Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, which reached No. 4 Hot 100 high with “Summertime” in 1991, and as number one on NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
While Smith leads a Bulletin board chart at radio for the first time since 1999, when “Wild Wild West” ruled Rap Airplay for eight weeks in June-July, after spending many years since then focusing on his film career, starring in and producing several hit films. In 2022, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance King Richard.
In July, “You Can Make It” reached No. 3 top of the multi-metric Hot Gospel Songs chart, making Smith and Fridayy's first entry.
