The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
(1990) Will Smith proves rap stars can act, be funny, and cuddle up to the parents in this popular sitcom produced by Quincy Jones.
Nelson George:
"Will always stood apart. He never was trying to be hard. He always was a middle class kid from Philadelphia who might get beat up. He might even rap about getting beat up, which no other rapper was rapping about. People always forget there's this mainstream part of hip-hop that's been there all the way through. Will is the great exemplar of that along with Lauryn Hill."
Doug E. Fresh:
"Will Smith always made funny records like 'Parents Don't Understand.' So it was that whole kinda vibe that he had, when you seen him on TV. I knew he had talent, but when I seen him get on TV and act, he was a natural. And he kept it hip-hop. He even introduced slang on TV. Like yo, that's hot, that's phat, that's butta, yo yo watchudoin, stop trippin'."
Kurtis Blow:
"The Fresh Prince did what I couldn't do. He took the ball and ran with it."
Ludacris:
"That started a whole new revolution of going to get rappers for acting jobs, so you gotta thank Will Smith for that. Quincy Jones must have noticed something in Will Smith that nobody else really noticed at first. I think everybody on that show played their part really good until they switched the mamas on the show. That's when I stopped watching it. I couldn't stand it no more cause it just wasn't right."
