Will Smith suited up and pulled out all the stops for a throwback performance at Coachella that blew the minds of 90s kids everywhere.
On Sunday, April 14, the 55-year-old actor and hip-hop icon took the cool factor off the charts by crashing J Balvin’s festival gig as Agent J from Men in Black. He wasn’t just there to flash the neuralyzer; he rocked out to the iconic song from the 1997 hit movie.
Will Smith made a dramatic entrance during Balvin’s UFO-themed set, emerging from beneath the stage. Dressed in a familiar black suit and sunglasses, he electrified the audience with a shout of “Coachella!” just as the track kicked off.
Big Willie began to rap the lyrics of the popular song while 38-year-old Balvin stood next to him at the center of the stage. As the song approached its iconic dance breakdown, they executed the choreography in perfect sync, joined by backup dancers dressed as agents and aliens.
The prop alien head alone would have made this geeky writer shout “Alien prop head, you changed my life!”. However, seeing Will Smith decked out in his Agent J gear on the Coachella stage would’ve put my eyes into pure nostalgia goggle mode.
Indeed, J Balvin must have felt the same way I did, since he couldn’t hold back his excitement and embraced the veteran rapper during the performance.
The exhilarating finale showcased Balvin being playfully pulled offstage by dancers. Meanwhile, Smith brandished a ‘Neuralyzer,’ the iconic memory-erasing device from the movie, and flashed it towards the audience.
Luckily, footage of the paranormal performance made its way to X (formerly Twitter), so those mind-wiped audience members can still relive the experience.
The Internet Beams After Will Smith’s ‘Men in Black’ Throwback Performance at Coachella
Of course, denizens of X ate up the nostalgic performance faster than E.T. can inhale Reese’s Pieces.
“This is a classic,” one Big Willie lover wrote. “Pure joy watching this. I ADORE this movie and will be watching it tomorrow. This movie and Wild Wild West?!?! Will Smith DID THAT,” a second fan added.
Another fan noted how on point Will’s science continues to be. “Will Smith is in great lyrical shape!”, they gushed.
However, one X user (and killjoy) wondered if young Zoomers in attendance even understood the reference. “Only people from the late 1900s get this. Young kids there like what is this,” they quipped.