Actor and rapper Will Smith brought back his worldwide hit “Miami” from 1997 to open Univision’s 37th Premio Lo Nuestro gala, held this Thursday, February 20 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Wearing a beach shirt, sunglasses, and accompanied by DJ Khaled, Latin artist Thalia, India Martinez, and the Miami Sound Machine, Smith brought energy to another facet that he enjoys, but that was put on the back burner by the performance: music.
The show opened with Smith and flamenco-pop artist India Martinez. The singer sang the flamenco-rap cut “First Love” dressed in an elegant black sequin dress, and gave a moving vocal performance accompanied by evocative flamenco-style guitar strums.
The duo was then joined by DJ Khaled, Thalia and Miami Sound Machine, captivating the audience with a reference to Latin rhythms based on the song “Miami,” especially salsa.
The Mexican diva hummed a bit of “Conga,” a song immortalized by Cuban artist Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine on the 1985 album “Primitive Love.”
After the performance, the “Men in Black” actor shared the click on social media with Thalia and expressed: “Thank you Miamiii.”
“This is a really beautiful time for me, as I’m releasing new music,” said Will Smith a day earlier at a private event. “I’ve had a really wonderful couple of years of introspection, and I’ve had some beautiful revelations. I’m having an incredible time trying to express these things artistically.”
It’s not the first time that the American star has teamed up with Latin stars. In 2016, he collaborated with Bomba Estéreo on “Fiesta Remix.” Last year, the Philadelphia rapper joined J Balvin at Coachella, where they recreated Men in Black, Billboard reports.
Thalía took advantage of being one of the presenters to spend time on stage with different musical segments. She and Los Ángeles Azules premiered the song “Yo me lo busqué.” Later, she joined Ha-Ash to sing their new single “Amiga date cuenta” together for the first time.
At the Premio Lo Nuestro 2025 ceremony, Spanish composer Manuel Alejandro was recognized with the Visionario Lo Nuestro for being one of the most important composers of Hispanic music. He has written more than 500 songs and many of them have been made famous by artists such as Julio Iglesias, Raphael, Rocío Jurado, José José, among others.
