KVSP De La Soul says they turned down ‘Fresh Prince’ role because they were “scared”
Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on March 6, 2024
De La Soul is known for their contributions to hip-hop, but fear prevented them from venturing into Hollywood. Speaking to guest Queen Latifah on the debut episode of Art Official Intelligence Radio with De La Soul on Apple Music 1, Posdnuos and Maseo revealed they passed on an offer to do the show that turned out to be The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
“There was opportunities put in front of us, and we would just kind of be scared to step into that arena. A lot of people don’t know, yo, the Fresh Prince thing was offered to us,” said Pos. “‘What? Benny Medina want us to try what? They want us to do this?'”
“Russell was like, ‘Yo. Y’all need to try out. Go out there.’ We was like, ‘Nah. We do rap and stuff,'” he continued. “Honestly, we were scared. Seriously. We were scared. And s***. I could have been Will Smith. I could have got married to Jada. D***.”
Art Official Intelligence Radio with De La Soul will feature exclusive interviews with Tyler, the Creator, Common, Questlove, Talib Kweli and some more of “the biggest and most influential names in hip-hop (and culture) both past and present.” Five episodes will be dedicated to honoring the 35th anniversary of their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising.
De La Soul also touched on the album and late member David “Trugoy The Dove” Jolicoeur in an interview with Zane Lowe.
“Dave was very colorful with his words, very vivid,” said Pos. “But him as the person himself, I could say in one word, Dave is defiant.”
On how the group honors Dave’s legacy, he said, “We got to keep moving.”
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