While Chance The Rapper is only beginning to dip his toes into acting, he has one fan who’s given him a tremendous seal of approval: DJ Jazzy Jeff, who told HipHopDX that he thinks the Chicago rapper would make a great successor to Will Smith on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.
A remake of the iconic early-’90s sitcom has been rumored and speculated for some time by fans online. It was a multi-generational hit that starred Will Smith and helped make him one of the of the most recognizable (and best-paid) actors in the world. But when it comes to who could possibly take over the role that Smith still defines for millions of fans, opinions are divided. Jeff already has someone in mind, of course.
“I think Chance would be a really good Fresh Prince,” Jeff told DX. “‘Cause Chance always seems to have a lighthearted demeanor. He’s got a serious side to him but Chance is always smiling. Chance is always trying to do something really positive. I think Chance would be a really good Fresh Prince.”
He not only cited Chance’s upbeat personality, but also his personal drive, which Jeff compared positively to Smith’s own. “Chance is a trailblazer and Will has always been a trailblazer,” he elaborates. “There has never been an ‘I can’t’ [in their vocabulary]. I think I really got a lot of that from [Smith], that ‘There’s no Plan B. Plan B just means you think that Plan A can fail. It’s just ‘This is what I’m gonna do and I just need to do it.’ There’s no ‘I hope it happens.’ It may take a little time but I’m just gonna do it.”
He also praised Chance’s business acumen, saying “I think for Chance to be as young as he is, to remain independent, to understand just even a little bit about the music industry, I think is great because it’s very easy to fall into those pitfalls. It’s very easy for someone to bring you a suitcase full of money, and it changes your entire perspective instead of realizing, ‘I probably could have 10 suitcases full of money if I just keep my product to myself.’”
Incidentally, Chance and Will Smith have already been linked after Chance penned a Twitter review defending Smith’s Netflix movie Bright from acidic criticism.
