5 Rappers Turned Actors

[loveisbeautiful]

I haven't written an article in a very long time and this came to mind, so I thought I'd write about it. There's many people that were in the singing world before they were in the acting world. Some now just act and others do both. Here are five rappers who are now actors, who you may have forgotten use to rap.

Ice - T

Back then

Ice - T who's real name is Tracy Lauren Marrow (I can understand why he changed his name lol) has been playing Detective/ Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola on Law & Order: SVU since 2000. So, some may have forgotten by now that he actually use to be a rapper. Ironically enough, he once had a song that was about hating the cops and now he plays one on T.V.

Ice-T now

LL Cool J

Back then

LL Cool J who's real name is James Todd Smith is now known for is role on NCIS: Los Angeles as Special Agent Sam Hanna, which he's had since 2009. Before that though, he was a rapper. I don't know any of his songs but I just know he use to rap. I remember him more for being Marion Hill in the sitcom In The House, which was on from 1995 until 1999.

LL Cool J now

Ice Cube

Ice Cube then and now

Ice Cube who's real name is O'Shea Jackson has made quite a name for himself in the movie industry. His most notable films are: Boyz n The Hood, The Friday movies, The Barbershop movies, All about the Benjamin's and Are We There Yet ?, just to name a few. Before that though, he was a rapper and may have even had controversial song (don't quote me on that though). I'm not sure if he still raps but he does act, he even had an Are We There Yet? sitcom (which was based upon the movie, I believe). That was on from 2010 until 2013.

Mark Wahlberg

Back then

Mark Wahlberg is known for being this big time movie actor and starring in many pretty successful movies but before he was just Mark, he was Marky Marky as in Marky Marky and the Funky Bunch. They weren't rap per say, they were more hip hop and popular in the 90's. The only song I really know is Good Vibrations and I really like that song. Don't ever talk to him about that time though because he apparently gets very upset when people bring up his Marky Marky and the Funky Bunch days.

Mark Wahlberg now

Vanilla Ice

Back then

Vanilla Ice who's real name is Robert Van Winkle was once one of the few white rappers, back in the 90's (way before Eminem came along). The song that he's most known for is Ice Ice Baby, which I love. It was along time ago and he's come a long way, so people might not remember his Vanilla Ice days. He now is a DYI / home improvement guy, I think he even has a couple shows about those very things. Much like the guy above, don't talk about him being Vanilla Ice because he too gets quite angry when someone brings it up.

Vanilla Ice now

This concludes my list. I hope you enjoyed my short little take. I just realized I forgot to put Will Smith on this list, is there anybody else I forgot to put on here? Feel Free to list them.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

WTF? Mark Wahlberg was a rapper?
I thought he was in a rock band.
And I didn't know LL Cool Jay and Vanilla Ice were actors.
I thought Vanilla only had a reality show

You forgot two of the biggest once, Ludacris, Xzibit and 50 Cents

I just realized another thing too, rappers really like ice. :p

[loveisbeautiful]

Haha. Vanilla Ice isn't really an actor but I put him on the list anyway. And, yep Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was a hip-hop group not a rock band.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

I guess my dad and I thought he was a rocker, cuz he starred in that rock n roll movie

[loveisbeautiful]

What Rock N Roll movie?

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Either The Rocker or Rock Star.
I don't remember. I always get those two mixed up and neve4 remember which is which.

The one with Mark is the one where he's a singer in a cover band, and becomes the lead singer in his favorite band. I think it has Jennifer Aniston in it, but I'm not sure

[loveisbeautiful]

Okay. Truthfully, I've never seen any movies with Mark Wahlberg in them.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Seriously?
If I'm honest, his movies aren't that great and he s not really that good of an actor

[loveisbeautiful]

Yep, I haven't seen a movie with Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt either.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Seriously?
Tom Cruise is actually a really good actor. At least in movies that are supposed to seem real.
He was AMAZING in "A Few Good Men"
Leo DeCaprio is the same

I always thought Brad Pitt was very overrated, to be honest. I liked some of his movies, but I never really liked him as an actor

[loveisbeautiful]

Yep. I've never seen George Cloony in a movie either.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Consider yourself fortunate.

[loveisbeautiful]

Haha, that bad huh?

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Yeah. Him and Ben Aflleck ruin every movie they star in.
I'm also not a fan of Travolta.

[loveisbeautiful]

I've seen Ben Affleck and John Trovolta in a couple movies. One them being Grease, I hate that movie lol.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Me too.
I watched that stupid movie where he was a record producer. I forgot what it was called, "Mr. Cool" or something like that.
It was so irritating, but I had no choice, because my dad changed our satellite provider, so there was a 3 day span where we only had like 5 channels. LOL

[loveisbeautiful]

Haha, I'm sorry. I grew up my entire childhood without cable, so I get it.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Oh damn. That really sucks. LOL

[loveisbeautiful]

Actually, it wasn't that bad. I think it would be worse if I was a kid today lol.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Oh yeah, for sure
LOL

[loveisbeautiful]

I even watched PBS back then, couldn't even do that now because the shows on there suck too lol.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

I agree. I used to watch PBS a lot, but now my PBS station sucks ass.
They removed Rick Steves and Globe Trekker and the new episodes of Nature and Nova are SHIT!

[loveisbeautiful]

I'm sorry. Welcome to the future lol.

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Yeah. Sad future

[ZeussLightningBolt]

Thanks for MHO dear

[pinkhoodie53]

Best Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch song is Bout Time I Funk You impo. Also because I heard Ice Ice Baby so many times I forgot it was a Queen song and I got a little shaken everytime I hear the beat.

[loveisbeautiful]

Ice Ice Baby itself is not a Queen song, the beat he uses is the same one that's used in the song Under Pressure which is done by Queen and David Bowie together but the songs themselves are not the same, just the beat.

[pinkhoodie53]

That’s what I meant by ‘it’ I should’ve articulated better. My bad.

[loveisbeautiful]

No worries

[MrOracle]

Will Smith, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Ice-T are the best rapper-turned-actors. But I am feeling old when you don't remember these guy's rap careers.

LL Cool J started out as a NYC old-school rapper when he was just a skinny teen, but he transitioned to being very innovative, with the first popular rap ballad (I Need Love), the first jazz-influenced rap song (Going Back To Cali), and the first "acoustic" rap performances when he performed "Mama Said Knock You Out" on MTV Unplugged. Not many rap acts had multiple hits across two distinct rap eras.

And while I wouldn't rank him as a GREAT actor, he does a good job and certainly has extended his career into a 4th decade - something few rappers can claim.

[ChiTown33]

I don't consider Marky Mark a rapper. He's an entertainer. I mean look at his brother was in a boy band... that ain't gangsta! Lol
I still refer to him as Marky Mark though just cause i know it annoys people. like "did you see that Planet of the apes movie with Marky Mark"? Response " You mean Mark Wahlberg"? Reply "He is Marky Mark, i don't care what he calls himself now... it's like feel it feel it lol".

[Moonchild714]

Better Actors than Rappers except Ice Cube, Ice-T, & LL Cool J. Marky Mark was never a legit Rapper he was an Underwear Model and got in the Music Biz because of Bro Donnie... I'll pretend I didn't see Vanilla Ice in that list as Rapper or Actor...

[Jjpayne]

That's a pretty fun and cool list, thanks for sharing

[spartan55]

Dr. Dre is one that comes to mind. Ludacris has been on Law and Order a few times.

[Dchrls78104]

Interesting list. The parents of #1 did him no service with their choice of names for their son😂😂.

[loveisbeautiful]

Haha, no they did not. I imagine he wouldn't have had much of a rapping career if he used his actual name lol.

[Thatgal4426]

Mark Wahlberg omg😩 and ice t

[loveisbeautiful]

Not a fan?

[Thatgal4426]

They're hot

[Thatgal4426]

I first liked mark when I seen him in the movie "fear"

[Anonymous]

Love Mark Walhberg.

[Secretgardenblood]

Good take.