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Ever since the days of Krush Groove and Wild Style, hip-hop has had its place in cinema. But television? That’s a different matter. Always more conservative than the movies, it wasn’t until LL Cool J and Ice-T established themselves as proper serious actors, and Will Smith got into to some trouble on the playground, that TV producers starting casting rappers in their shows. From guest stars to having their own shows, here’s 20 times rappers invaded the small screen.
Method Man on 'The Wire'
It’s hard to remember now that Idris Elba, Dominic West and Michael K Williams are international stars, but part of The Wire’s original power was that all the cast were basically unknowns. We felt like we were watching the real Stringer Bell or Bubbles, not some actors. That is, until Method Man turns up in season two as Eastside crewmember Cheese, totally shattering the illusion. You can even see his Wu tattoos in some scenes.
Ghostface Killah on '30 Rock'
In the first season episode “The Source Awards”, Alec Balwin’s Jack Donaghy is trying to offload thousands of bottles of a failed sparkling wine venture. So he hires rap mogul Ridikolous (LL Cool J), to make it the new Cristal or Alize (despite the fact it’s undrinkable). He even gets Ghostface to shoot a video about about it, spitting lyrics like “Donaghy kinda rhymes with party,” and physically being unable swallow more that a mouthful of it.
Ice-T on 'Law & Order: SVU'
Since 2000, Ice-T’s day job hasn’t been in the booth, but instead being a series regular of the uber-successful Law & Order spin-off. It’s a solid paycheck, I suppose. After 15 years on the show, his greatest moment came this year, in the notorious “Intimidation Game” episode that tried to take on video games and came across like a confused old man yelling at clouds.
LL Cool J on 'NCIS: Los Angeles'
Much like Ice-T, LL Cool J has also got himself a steady gig on a spin-off of a long running police procedural. LL’s on NCIS: LA, where he, I dunno, solves crimes or something? I thought The Wire and Breaking Bad and the ‘golden age of TV’ was supposed to have gotten rid of all these show. Who’s still watching them? (Your parents).
Will Smith on 'The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air'
Do I really need to explain this one to you? Remember tho, there was a point, back in the late 80s, when Will Smith was just a pop rapper who was nearly bankrupt, and no one thought of him as an actor. But from the very first scene of the first episode, from the very first “Iiiiiiinnnnnnn West Philadelphia, born and raised…”, it was clear he was a movie star.
Drake on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'
Most rappers blow up, sell a million records, and then start acting when their music starts to fall off. Drizzy flipped it and did it the other way round. As a kid in Toronto, Drake starred in Degrassi: The Next Generation, the latest instalment of long-running teen franchise and Canadian institution Degrassi. There’s probably a generation who still see him as Jimmy Brooks, hotshot basketball player who’s career was ruined when he was shot by a classmate.
Childish Gambino on 'Community'
Troy could have been such a generic dumb football jock if anyone else but Donald Glover had played him. But then nothing on Community is conventional. He brought all the backpacker, nerdcore, pop-culturally aware influences of his rapping to the character, and turned what should have been a meathead into a delightful childlike innocent. There’s plenty of reasons why Community isn’t very good anymore, but Glover’ leaving the show is as big as any.
Eminem on 'Entourage'
HBO’s bro-fest Entourage had no shortage of celebrities guest-starring as themselves—it was basically just executive producer Mark Wahlberg running down his contacts list. But Marshall Mathers made a memorable cameo, punching out a very drunk Vincent Chase when he disrupted one of his shows.
50 Cent on 'Power'
Fiddy loves his extra-cirricular projects—he’s invested in films, vitamin water, body spray, mining, the metal industry… He’s also got into TV production game, helping bring the gangster show Powers to Starz. And of course, he has a recurring role in former drug boss on lockdown.
DMX on 'Third Watch'
You know Third Watch, right? You know, long running drama about firefighters? Ran for six seasons on NBC? No, we’ve never heard of it either. But apparently DMX guest-starred on an episode in 2003, as a character with the brilliant name of ‘Candid Jones’.
The RZA on 'Californication'
The architect of the Wu-Tang was always cinematically minded, and has used his professor-like presence and effortlessly cool voice into a nice acting sideline. On the David Duchovny Hollywood detective-em-up Californication, Bobby Digital became a recurring guest star as a rapper called ‘Samurai Apocalypse’ (not at all connected to him producing the soundtrack to anime Afro Samurai).
Kid Cudi on 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'
Kid Cudi played the relative straight guy to The Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg when he appeared of the spoof cop show. Samberg’s Dectective Jake Peralta arrests Cudi’s character without actually having any evidence, and has 48 hours to prove he’s guilty.
Rick Ross on 'Magic City'
Starz’ 60s Miami-set Magic City should have been a sure fire, Mad Men-meets-Sopranos hit, but never really found its footing. One of its many highpoints though was Rick Ross’ appearances as ‘Butterbean’, the swaggering, Bible-quoting numbers king of the city.
Andre 3000 on 'The Shield'
With a cop show as gritty as The Wire, you’d expect to some proper hood rapper to guest star, and bring some street authenticity. Instead, they went with Outkast’s ultra-flamboyant Andre 3000. Who played a comic book shop owner, who then ran for mayor.
Common on 'Hell On Wheels'
AMC’s period show about the building of America’s railways might not get the acclaim on the level of Mad Men or The Walking Dead, but it’s quietly built into a very solid Western epic. Common also been slugging away, putting in probably the best performances of his acting career as freed slave Elam Ferguson.
Mos Def on 'Dexter'
Serial killer drama Dexter rattled through plenty of guest stars during its run—the subject matter meant that characters tended not to have the longest lifespan. Mos Def was one of the many recognisable faces to appear, playing an ex-con turned man of god in season six.
Xzibit on 'CSI: Miami'
Another example of a long running generic crime show, featuring a guest shot from a rapper with an unremarkable acting career. X to tha Z plays a rapper who survives an assassination attempt, in something that feels like it was written by an old white guy who half remembers hearing about Biggie and Tupac on the news a while back.
Queen Latifah on 'Spin City'
Remember Spin City? It was a political sitcom that made the most of Michael J Fox’s talents, before he was struck down with Parkinson’s disease, and was replaced with Charlie Sheen. It was in this later run that Queen Latifah guest-star, as, er, a psychic political aid. Yeah.
Tyler, The Creator on 'The Mindy Project'
Tyler made a brief, bizarre appearance on Mindy Kaling’s recently cancelled (but renewed by Hulu) sitcom. When Mindy’s brother wants to become a rapper, Tyler is briefly seen on-stage on in a club, and spends his entire screen time encouraging people to recycle. Honestly not sure why.
Master P on 'Oz'
Hardcore prison drama Oz was HBO’s first hour-long drama, and therefore ushered in the likes of The Sopranos, Game Of Thrones, True Detective and everything else. It also strangely gave Master P—usually consigned to low-budget DTV crime movies—his best acting role ever, having a memorable confrontation with JK Simmons’ Ayran Brotherhood leader.