From Fresh Prince to King

 Willard Christopher Smith Jr., known as Will Smith, was born on September 25, 1968.  He is both a Grammy-winning rap artists and an Academy Award-nominated actor.  He is one of a very few people who has found success in all avenues of entertainment and media; from music to tv to films. 

Will Smith started his career with a childhood friend, DJ Jazzy Jeff, by starting a rap duo.  Their music was primarily comedic and radio-friendly hip-hop.  They are best known for the songs “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and “Summertime”.  In high school, he was nicknamed “fresh prince”.  They were the first ever rap artists to win a Grammy in 1988.  In 1990, after his rap career had slowed down, he starred in a sitcom on NBC called “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.  He played the lead in this show which became wildly popular from the early to mid-1990s.

His first notable role in films came when he played an action hero cop alongside Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys (1995).  After ‘Bad Boys’ became a blockbuster hit,  “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” saga came to a close.  However, he began receiving many more roles in films including: Independence Day (1996), Men In Black (1997), Enemy of the State (1998), Wild Wild West (1999), Ali (2001), Men In Black II (2002), Bad Boys II (2003), I Robot (2004), Shark Tale (2004) and Hitch (2005).  He was also considered as one of the top choices to play ‘Neo’ in the popular sci-fi film “The Matrix”.