The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air was not only one of the defining TV shows of the ’90s, but it was the springboard Will Smith used to go from rapper to acting superstar. However, it looks like Smith actually wasn’t the only hip-hop figure considered for the role, as De La Soul was apparently in the mix, too.
On their new Apple Music show Art Official Intelligence Radio With De La Soul (as HipHopDX notes), Posdnuos and Maseo spoke with guest Queen Latifah about the show. Posdnuos noted, “A lot of people don’t know, yo: the Fresh Prince thing was offered to us.”
He continued, “They want us to do this? Russell [Simmons] was like, ‘Yo, y’all need to try out. Go out there.’ We was like, ‘Nah. We do rap and stuff.’ Honestly, we were scared. Seriously, we were scared.” He also joked, “And sh*t, I could have been Will Smith. I could have got married to Jada. Damn.”
Based on Posdnuos’ recounting of events, it’s not clear if just one of the group’s members would have been chosen for the Smith role, with the other two possibly getting other roles, or if the show would have had a different structure entirely with all three starring. Whatever the case, it’s a fun alternate reality to think about.
