Lights, Camera, Bars! These 6 Actors Proved Their Skills on Both Screen and the Mic
These rappers, from dropping bars to stealing scenes, prove they're not one-trick ponies.
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Rapping and acting go hand in hand, oo it’s no wonder rappers like 50 Cent, Ludacris and Queen Latifah have turned to a life on the silver screen and do it convincingly. Yet, there are some thespians-turned-MCs. Here are five of the best thespians on the mic. (Photo: Courtesy Glassnote Records)
Photo By L-R (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage), (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
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Before joining the Fugees, New Jersey native, Lauryn Hill was already appearing on the stage and screen. Her first major acting role came in 1991 via the soap opera As the World Turns in a recurring role as troubled teenager Kira Johnson.
Photo By Anthony Barboza/Getty Images
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Donald Glover is a prime example of rapping actors gone well. Acting since the early 2002s, as Childish Gambino, Glover has become a superstar and even earned a No. 1 in 2018 with "This Is America." He is also a five-time Grammy winner. (Photo: Courtesy Glassnote Records)
Photo By Photo: Courtesy Glassnote Records
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Drake is hands-down one of the best actors-turned-rappers ever. His role as the disabled character, Jimmy Brooks, on Degrassi: The Next Generation garnered the Canadian a teen heartthrob's following. Once he got down with Lil Wayne’s Young Money, Drake unleashed a fury of chart-topping songs and has earned five Grammys. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)
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Acting since the age of seven, Tristan Wilds made a name for himself as an actor in The Wire, the revamped 90210 and the blockbuster Red Tails. Tristan is also an MC who goes by the name Mack Wilds. In 2014, he received a Grammy nomination in the Best Urban Contemporary Album category for New York: A Love Story, which charted at No. 15 on the Billboard R&B album chart. Although he hasn't released music since 2017, we can't forget his hip hop history. (Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)
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While Terrance Howard is still definitely an Oscar nominated actor, his bars cannot be denied in Hustle & Flow, which earned him an Oscar nod for Best Actor. On the album's soundtrack, he performed on three tracks as Djay, the lead role in Hustle & Flow as the street hustler-turned-rapper.
Photo By (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
