Will Smith and Jeff Townes began their hugely successful rap career as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince when they first met when
Will was 16 years old. Smith spent six seasons as the lead of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air before becoming a Hollywood A-lister with the 1995 films Bad Boys and Independence Day (1996).
Since then, he has starred in hit movies including Men in Black (1997) and Hitch (2005), and received Oscar nods for the roles he played in Ali (2001) and The Pursuit of Happyness (2005). (2006). Smith also received praise for Concussion (2015) before making a comeback with Suicide Squad (2016).
Smith was given the name Willard Carroll Smith Jr. on September 25, 1968, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Caroline and Willard C. Smith, who ran a refrigeration business. Despite his family’s adherence to the Baptist faith, he was raised in a rigorous Catholic household and attended the demanding Our Lady of Lourdes school. Later, he went to Overbrook High School.
In the multicultural melting pot that was his West Philadelphia neighborhood, Orthodox Jews and a sizable Muslim community coexisted. Smith was a good student who was known for his quick wit and charming nature, which helped him avoid trouble and earned him the moniker “Prince.”
At the age of 12, Smith started rapping, imitating characters like Grandmaster Flash while infusing his rhymes with a comic quality that would eventually become his signature. At the age of 16, Smith and Jeff Townes first connected at a party. As a result of their friendship, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince were formed.
Will Smith Music Career
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince started making music while they were teenagers, but they avoided the gangstar rap style that was being developed on the West Coast by acts like N.W.A. Middle America considered The Fresh Prince’s clean, swear-free raps about adolescent obsessions comfortable and enjoyable. “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble,” the duo’s debut record, became popular in 1986.
Rock the House, their debut album from 1987, peaked at number 200 on the Billboard 200, making Smith a millionaire at the age of 18. Smith’s early success eliminated any considerations of going to college.
Early on, it was claimed that Smith had declined a scholarship to Boston’s prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but Smith later refuted the claim in an interview by saying: “A friend of my mother’s who worked for the Philadelphia School Board and was in charge of admissions at MIT. I definitely could have gotten in because I had quite excellent SAT scores and they needed Black students. But I had no plans to attend college.”
He’s The DJ, I’m The Rapper, an album by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, helped them maintain their popularity in 1988. The album, which received the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance, featured the radio-friendly hits “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” “Brand New Funk,” and “Nightmare on My Street.” And In This Corner…, which continues the duo’s ascent to fame, was released in 1989.
Will Smith Movies and TV Shows
Two years later, Smith started making the transition to acting. NBC hired Smith to appear in a sitcom about a street-smart boy from Philadelphia who moves in with stuffy relatives in the upscale Los Angeles suburb of Bel-Air, drawing on his experiences with budding popularity. A big hit that lasted for six seasons, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air played on his rapper identity and occasionally featured his friend Towne.
Smith and Towne persisted in making music during this time, and the albums Homebase from 1991 produced the successes “Summertime” and “Ring My Bell.” Code Red, their final album released as a group in 1993, is known for the song “Boom! Shake the Room.”
Will Smith Net Worth
Will Smith’s estimated net worth in 2022 will be $350 million since he made that much money through his movies, a few brand endorsements, and other sources. Will Smith was taught how to work from a young age, but he never learned how to pay taxes, which is why he had to pay nearly two-thirds of the revenue from the first season of his TV show as taxes.
Rapper Will began his professional life. Will Smith’s flicks helped him become well-known after this. He became well-known thanks to movies like Suicide, The Pursuit of Happyness, and the Men in Black series.
