7 Rappers Turned Actors ...

I kind of forgot that Will Smith was a rapper first. How could I forget?! I have his songs on my iPod! Will Smith has been in quite a few movies, such as “The Pursuit of Happyness” (yep, you read that right!) and “I Am Legend.” Of course before those movies he was in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”! He’s definitely left his rapping behind, and passed the torch on to his son Jaden to be an actor, and who can blame him?! He’s got some pretty good movies under his belt.

Oh, Mark Wahlberg, how I love you so. He has definitely shed his rapping career for an acting career and it was a great decision on his part. Mark Wahlberg has been in some really great movies and is definitely a talented actor. Some of his movies include “The Departed” and “The Fighter.” He also produced some TV shows like “Entourage” and “Boardwalk Empire.” What a guy!!

Ice-T has been in a few movies, but he’s best known for his role in “Law & Order: SVU.” I still find it kind of hard to take him kind of seriously, but that’s probably because I don’t really watch “Law & Order.” A lot of people have accepted him as an actor, so good for him! Who would have thought when he was rapping that he would later grace TV screens weekly on an insanely popular TV show?!

For some reason I completely forgot that LL Cool J was an actor, which is quite a change from the other memory lapses I had while writing this article. He hasn’t starred in too many things, but he’s probably one of the most famous people on this list. He’s also one of the people on this list that has managed to straddle both the music industry as well as a career in acting. That is some serious multitasking!

I completely forgot that Queen Latifah had a rap career! She has been able to switch to an acting career and pretty much leave behind her rap career (or maybe I’m really out of touch). Her acting career may not be the best on this list and some people don’t like her acting very much, but I think she was hilarious in “Bringing Down the House.”

I’m not a big fan of Ice Cube’s movies or acting, but that doesn’t stop him from belonging on this list! He starred in the “Barbershop” movies, as well as “Are We There Yet?” the movie and the TV show. There are definitely a lot of other movies that he has been in. He has a pretty successful career actually. I never really realized it until right now.

Ok, so Eve hasn’t had much of an acting career. I felt I had to mention her because there are so few rappers, which means that there are even less female rappers that turn into actors. Eve did appear in “Barbershop 2,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” and “Whip It.” Maybe she isn’t the most successful rapper or actor on this list, but she’s well known and fits this category.

I forgot that a lot of these people were rappers before they were actors! I’m sure that there are plenty that I missed. Are there any you can think of? Which is your favorite cross over?