Will Smith is back in the booth, 20 years after his last album Lost and Found. In the two decades since, there has been no particular clamor for the Fresh Prince to start spitting again. Fans seemed perfectly happy watching him shoot bad guys as Detective Mike Lowrey, win an Oscar for King Richard and slap Chris Rock for insulting his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. But after a not-so-subtle build-up, Big Willie is back.
Initially surprising fans at Coachella last year when he joined J Balvin on stage to perform “Men in Black” while dressed as Agent J, Smith’s nostalgic comeback coincided with the return of his and Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys franchise.
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He further teased that he was up to something when he posted a mysterious message on social media earlier this year, referencing his famous decision to turn down the role of Neo in The Matrix. Most fans did not expect the announcement to be the lead single from a new album, let alone one that saw the 56-year-old deliver some of his most ambitious and personal raps yet.
Given his enormous stature as a Hollywood icon, it can often be forgotten that Will Smith has had a huge impact on Hip Hop culture over the last 40 years. There are not many people who can say that while also remaining on top for that length of time.
With his brand new album Based on a True Story out today (March 28), HipHopDX looks back at Will Smith’s lasting impact on the rap game.
He Helped Hip Hop Go Mainstream
Eminem once famously spat: “Will Smith doesn’t have to cuss in his raps to sell records,” but it was a philosophy that put the young Philadelphian in good stead. In the mid-1980s, when Hip Hop was still in its infancy as a cultural phenomenon and commercial artform, a teenage Smith (along with DJ Jazzy Jeff) set out his stall as an easily palatable, family-friendly rapper.
Amid controversies ignited by the likes of N.W.A, 2 Live Crew and Ice-T, Will, under his Fresh Prince moniker, opened the door for a wider (and whiter) audience to embrace a genre of music that may have otherwise offended their sensibilities.
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Powered by hits like “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and “A Nightmare on My Street,” the Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff’s 1988 album He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper reached number four on the Billboard 200 and was later certified triple platinum. Despite being derided by some purists, what Will and Jeff did was a necessary step for Hip Hop to gain the kind of mainstream acceptance that would turn it into the biggest genre of music in America.
He Made Hip Hop History at the Grammys
Hip Hop has long had a tense relationship with the Grammys. From Kendrick Lamar‘s good kid, m.A.A.d city controversially losing out to Macklemore‘s The Heist in the Best Rap Album category in 2013 to the fact that OutKast‘s 2003 LP Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was the last (and only) rap album to win Album of the Year (Lauryn Hill‘s genre-blending The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill previously won the prize in 1999), Hip Hop is still the incredibly large elephant in the Grammys committee’s meeting room.
With that being said, Will Smith will forever belong in the history books when it comes to Music’s Biggest Night. He and Jazzy Jeff became the first Hip Hop act to win a Grammy in 1989 when “Parents Just Don’t Understand” took home Best Rap Performance, beating out the likes of LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee and Salt-N-Pepa. The Fresh Prince would go on to win a further three gongs in the 1990s, fending off competition from rappers of greater acclaim such as JAY-Z, The Notorious B.I.G. and Missy Elliott.
Going back to Hip Hop’s friction with the Recording Academy, Smith opted to boycott the 1989 ceremony after he learned that the Best Rap Performance category (which had been introduced that year) would not be part of the televised portion of the show. Joining him and Jazzy Jeff in sitting out the ceremony was LL Cool J, Russell Simmons and Salt-N-Pepa in a powerful show of rap solidarity.
Countless other MCs have since followed suit for similar reasons, from JAY-Z and Eminem to Drake and Lil Wayne.
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He Conquered TV as the Fresh Prince
Despite the enormous commercial success of He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper, Will Smith found himself in financial hardship in the late ’80s after some frivolous spending. In his hour of need, he was handpicked to front a sitcom for NBC modeled on his rap persona.
The hit show soon made Smith one of the most famous men in America as he helped usher in a new wave of college prep into Hip Hop fashion and had millions of people rapping along to the show’s iconic theme song. As well as being irresistibly catchy and explaining the premise of the series, the title track also served as a perfect example of Smith’s literal storytelling style that made him particularly popular among suburban Hip Hop fans.
Meanwhile, at the height of the show’s success, the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff unleashed the biggest hit of their careers: “Summertime,” a breezy, feel-good anthem that continues to soundtrack cookouts to this day.
He Was One of the Hottest Rappers & Movie Stars on the Planet (At the Same Damn Time)
By 1997, Will Smith had ascended to Hollywood’s A-list thanks to box office hits like Bad Boys and Independence Day and happily graduated from his days as the Fresh Prince. It would have been easy for him to move on from music entirely, but in one of the smartest moves of his career, he combined his talents for Men in Black.
As well as being one of the most successful movies of the year, the film’s theme song — Smith’s introduction as a solo artist — was a wonderfully-plotted piece of synergy that made him one of the most sought-after superstars in the world. “Men in Black” happened to be the perfect vehicle for Smith’s pop sensibilities and ability to craft a danceable hook with some of the daftest rap lyrics ever committed to wax (“Let me see you take a walk with me, just walk with me / Come on and make ya neck work”).
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However, people are still singing it to this day and the international smash was the launching pad for his debut solo album Big Willie Style, the most successful of his career. Featuring additional hits such as “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Miami,” the project is close to achieving diamond status in the U.S., a remarkable feat for a man best known for his work on the big screen.
He’s Paved the Way for Countless Rappers in Hollywood
Rappers love the movies. You can hardly go to the cinema in 2025 without seeing a 50 Cent, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Kid Cudi, Common or Queen Latifah on the big screen. But Will Smith was a pioneer in crossover artistry. On his way to becoming one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood history, he understood the importance of the movie soundtrack, with the Bad Boys films and Wild Wild West featuring Hip Hop-heavy soundtracks that also became successful in their own right.
It would be a move replicated by stars such as Eminem and 50 Cent for 8 Mile and Get Rich or Die Tryin’, respectively, while film franchises like Creed and Black Panther leaned heavily into Hip Hop tie-ins to tremendous success. That is a testament to Smith’s ingenuity as an innovator and businessman, and why he is now in his fifth decade as an entertainer.
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Though he has been the subject of mockery for his complicated marriage, public earnestness and PG-friendly raps, Will Smith is one of the most important figures in Hip Hop and the wider entertainment industry, one who has opened doors for countless Black artists in the sitcom space, for rappers who have branched out into acting and as a Black movie star who has always refused to be put in a box.
