{"id":919755,"date":"2026-10-07T19:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T19:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/919755\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T19:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T19:38:14","slug":"will-smiths-hip-hop-origin-story-inspires-new-scripted-tv-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/919755\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Smith’s hip-hop origin story inspires new scripted TV show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Smith is putting the chaos of his recent past<\/a> in the rearview mirror, while mining his rise to fame for a new scripted TV series. Deadline reports<\/a> that Smith\u2019s early years and emergence in mainstream hip-hop alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff (whose real name is Jeff Townes) will form the basis of a new show titled 215, an apparent nod to their Philly roots and area code. Smith\u2019s Westbrook Studios, co-founded by the actor in 2019, will develop 215 as part of a new partnership with investment firm The Malar Group, according to Deadline. Westbrook Studios previously co-produced several of Smith\u2019s films, including King Richard and Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, as well as his shows, like Bel Air and Pole To Pole.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The upcoming scripted series will reportedly follow Smith and Townes as they \u201cchase a record deal, money and a way out as Philadelphia\u2019s hip-hop scene takes off,\u201d per Deadline. The show will also explore the inner workings of the music industry and how it affected their personal lives. \u201cAlong the way they deal with label meetings, hometown loyalty, sudden fame and the friendships that hold them together, or almost don\u2019t,\u201d Deadline\u2018s description teases. The Grammy-winning musical duo, known as DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, notably bridged the gap between hip-hop and pop listeners through popular songs like \u201cSummertime,\u201d PG lyrics, Townes\u2019 turntablism, and Smith\u2019s charisma. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince also performed the theme song for the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which starred Smith and occasionally featured Townes as his best friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will Smith is putting the chaos of his recent past in the rearview mirror, while mining his rise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":919756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-919755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=919755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/919756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=919755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=919755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=919755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}