In recent years, a number of artists in various musical genres have tried to make the leap from the concert stage to the movie set.
Artists Madonna, Britney Spears, Phil Collins, Kid Rock and David Bowie all explored their acting talents, but their attempts didn’t exactly send critics bowing. Enter hip-hop music, where rappers such as Ice Cube, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg and many more have had bigger successes in movies than their pop and rock counterparts.
The one- time fresh prince of Bel-Air, Will Smith was the first rapper to successfully transition to the big screen and was closely followed – with varying degrees of success by Queen Latifah, LL Cool J. and Ice-T, now it seems every rap artist from Beenie Segal to Fat Joe are now climbing onboard the movie wagon, but when it boils down to the box office numbers, only a handful are onscreen magnets. Smith, who in 1990 lunged into television with the hit sitcom, remains the only rapper who can command million dollar salaries per movie
“At that time, nobody in the rap community ever thought I could go from music to becoming successful in a TV show and films,” confesses Smith who certainly proved his critics wrong after nabbing an Oscar nomination for movie Ali.
Latifah, like Smith also started in television with the comedy “Living Single.” An appearance in “Jungle Fever” and a role in “Set It Off” cemented her acting career and she went on to nab a Golden Globe for the movie “Chicago,” and she just released her 22nd movie to date “Taxi,” in which she plays cabdriver in New York City. She is also in negotiations to star in “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz.”
“Out of Sync” didn’t do well for LL Cool J.’s starring role, but it certainly nabbed him a television sitcom. His big break came with in “Halloween: H20,” and he has since proven an onscreen credibility with successes such as “Mindhunters,” “In Too Deep” and “S.W.A.T.” Fans can catch him in “Slow Burn” with Taye Diggs later this year.
Emmy nominee Mos Def (“The Italian Job,” “Something The Lord Made”) has repeatedly proven himself to be a competent and very talented actor, whilst Ice Cube’s successes with the “Friday” and “Barbershop” trilogy has made him a bankable star.
With some of the mediocre material given to work with, Tupac Shakur pushed the genre with his compelling portrayal of complex characters in “Juice,” “Gang Related” and “Above The Rim.”
In “New Jack City,” Ice-T showed enough promise to secure a permanent role with the television series “Law and Order: SUV.”
For Q-Tip (“She Hate Me”) acting is far deeper. “It’s just another part of myself that is hidden that I got to dig through to find it. I had to do it.”
Former rapper Mark Wahlberg, (“The Italian Job,” “Perfect Storm”) found the perfect vocation when he decided to give up an ailing rap career.
Attempts by other rappers to enter into the movie industry has not always been successful, take Eminem’s “8 Mile” – great movie bad acting. Perhaps fans look forward to improved performances in future flicks “Devil’s Night” and “Runyon Cash,” both are scheduled for a November release.
Ja Rule, since his earlier spate with 50 Cent has resorted to movies, but with credits, which include “The Fast and The Furious,” “Half Past Dead,” and a small forgettable role in “Scary Movie 3,” he would be best advised to stick to rapping.
Treach‘s “Love and a Bullet” didn’t sit very well with fans but “Book of Love” and “Jason’s Lyric” scoured him a few points.
DMX, who has steadily churned out monotonous action flicks like “Never Die Alone,” “Exit Wounds” and “Rome Must Die” is still yet to show his acting range.
Fat Joe and Master P’s flicks have sunk deeper than the titanic and DJ Pooh’s roles in “The Wash” and “3 Strikes” remain barely memorable.
Despite nabbing small guest roles on sitcom “Half & Half” and movie “Civil Brand,” MC Lyte is still awaiting a big break, which has been slow in coming.
Cam’ron showed onscreen charisma in “Paid In Full” and Kurrupt (“Cradle 2 The Grave”) will excel if he employed the full services of an acting coach.
Nelly wasn’t as bad as critics slammed in Snipes but fans can be the judge of his acting abilities when he appears in “The Longest Yard” with Chris Rock later this year.
The MC dream team Method and Redman scored a hit with movie “How High” and although they snagged a Fox sitcom remain boring and buffoonish onscreen.
Mack 10 and Jay Z have also dabbled in movies, but are yet to show full promise whilst Scarface & E-40’s acting ability in “Survival Of The Fittest” barely convinced audiences.
Busta Rhymes and Xzibit’s “Full Clip” went straight to video as did Charli Baltimore, Cormega and The Eastsidaz’s “Crime Partners” although Busta did show a flicker of improvement in “Shaft” and “Narc.”
Worst actor nods, respectively should be shared by Lil Kim (“Norah’s Hair Salon”) and Sticky Fingaz (“Torque”) who ring true Smauel’s Jackson’s statement that rappers should perhaps stick to rapping and leave acting to the real professionals.
