Rapper Will Smith began shooting a new TV sitcom this week in 1990 called "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

"I'm playing a kid from West Philadelphia and I get into a fight with a couple guys and my moms is like, 'You know, the neighborhood is pretty bad, you're a good kid, I think that you should have a better shot at life, I want you to move in with your aunt and uncle in Bel-Air,' " Will Smith explained. "So I move out to Bel-Air and it's like I'm a fish out of water, and I'm just like, 'Oh yo, this is all that,' and my head is spinning and everything. I'm just tripping out."

While the show had roots in the 1960s sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies," it was also loosely based on the life of Warner Bros. Records executive Benny Medina. Medina grew up in South Central Los Angeles and moved to Beverly Hills to live with his wealthy Jewish family.

("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" aired from 1990-1996.)

Tone-Loc was in the studio working on his Cool Hand Loc album, the follow-up to the hugely successful Loc-ed After Dark.

"I think I'm more funky this time," Loc said. "And before I never really paid attention to my voice until everybody made this big deal about it after the album. So now I try to use it to every advantage I can on the album. I think it will be better than the last one."

On the last one, Marvin Young, a.k.a. Young MC ("Bust a Move"), was brought in to help out with the lyrics, but Loc said don't look for Marvin this time out.

"I wrote the 'Wild Thing' song. I wrote it nasty ... it was all my concept and the fellows who made the music were really hyped on the music and they knew the song was gonna get played in the radio," Loc said. "They didn't wanna have those types of [nasty] lyrics on there so they went to Mr. Marvin and asked him to write the song. But they didn't tell me they went to him. They said that they just wrote it down and just to try it this way. I didn't have a problem with it, but you know after a long time you get tired of it, hearing somebody else take all the recognition for that you did."

Out in SoCal, gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A were throwing a pool party. The shindig boasted a wet T-shirt contest, a lot of bikinis and, of course, a lot of hip-hop.

"If we woulda done this in Compton it woulda been a big mess and a lot of people wouldn't have come," N.W.A's MC Ren said of the group's home turf. "We wanted to do a lot of stuff in Compton, it's just police woulda turned it over and stopped it and everything. Out here, it's cool. They got it. The guy they renting the house out from, he owns the whole canyon, and most everybody in here's from Compton, so it's cool."

For more "This Week In ...", check out the This Week In Archive.

• Will Smith
• Tone-Loc
• N.W.A.

Sir Mix-A-Lot
Photo: Columbia

Nostalgia tours don't always have to feature Ringo Starr or hair bands.

More than 20 years after "Rapper's Delight" broke through to radio, hip-hop has its own legends — and nothing befits a legend more than a comeback trek.

A healthy number of the rappers who first brought the genre to radio and video are still touring the country and releasing new music. Here's a rundown of who's doing what and why you should know.

(Tour dates are according to various booking agencies, artists' management and venues.)

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
Breakthrough single: "It Takes Two" (1988)
Catchphrase: "Don't cheer me, just hear me out, 'cause I got the clout — shout!"
Famous fashion accessory: Big gold chains, lots of 'em.
Forgettable moment: Cover of Edwin Starr's "War."
Most recent record: Break of Dawn (1994)
Current projects: Unknown.
Tour dates:

10/17 - Harrison, AR @ University of Arkansas

Related Artists

• Tone-Loc
• Run-D.M.C.
• Sir Mix-A-Lot
• Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
• 2 Live Crew

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1445924/20010801/tone_loc.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1445924/20010801/tone_loc.jhtml 1 Aug 2001 06:51:00 EDT
Tone-Loc

Tone-Loc, the hoarse-voiced rapper who will forever be remembered for his hits "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina," is planning to record a full-length LP.

The rapper, who has not recorded since 1993's "Cool Hand Loc," recently told a reporter from the "Grand Junction Sentinel," "I plan to put out an album by the end of the year. I didn't want to make a comeback. It's fun, and people said, 'Do it,' and I said, 'What the heck. I'll do it. But not for the money.'"

Tone-Loc was recently in Grand Junction, Colorado performing some of his old hits at the Avalon Theater.

In the years since the release of "Cool Hand Loc," Tone-Loc has funneled much of his energy into an acting career, and has had roles in "Poetic Justice," "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," and "Heat," starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. He has also appeared on TV series such as "Touched By an Angel" and "Roc."

Loc has completed some new material, including a cover of the song "Dream Weaver," the 1976 rock hit by Gary Wright. The rapper recorded the track as the theme to "Dreamweavers," a TV series he plans to star in. The series is still seeking a distributor (see "Tone-Loc Covers Dream Weaver' For TV Series").

Related Artists

• Tone-Loc

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434901/20000204/tone_loc.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434901/20000204/tone_loc.jhtml 4 Feb 2000 12:30:00 EST
Tone-Loc

Rapper-turned-actor Tone-Loc has recorded a cover version of Gary Wright's classic '70s tune, "Dream Weaver," for use as the theme song of a new TV series that Loc also plans to star in.

The series, entitled "Dreamweavers," appropriately enough, will be shopped around at next week's meeting of National Association of Program Executives in New Orleans. Loc (real name Anthony T. Smith) will perform the theme song at the city's Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on January 26 at 2 p.m. (CT)

Los Angeles-based Living Element Pictures is producing the series, which will also star Ashley Hamilton, Robert Carradine, Susan Rattan, and Frank Gorshin, the actor best remembered for his work as The Riddler on the '60s "Batman" TV show.

The "Dream Weaver" song reached number two on the singles chart back in 1976 and was revived for a new generation when the track was featured in the 1992 film, "Wayne's World."

As for Loc, "Dreamweavers" will mark his first TV project since the 1996 animated film "C Bear and Jamal," in which Loc provided the voice of C Bear, a stuffed animal that helps his ten-year-old owner cope with the beginning stages of adolescence. More recently, Loc co-starred with Michael Dudikoff in the 1998 action flick, "Freedom Strike."

Tone-Loc had a successful, though brief, rap career in the late-'80s and early-'90s, and enjoyed a pair of top five hits in "Wild Thing," and "Funky Cold Medina." His 1989 debut "Loc-ed After Dark" was the first rap record by a black artist to go to number one on the "Billboard" pop album chart.

Related Artists

• Tone-Loc

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434902/20000120/tone_loc.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434902/20000120/tone_loc.jhtml 20 Jan 2000 01:30:00 EST Tone-Loc - Funky Cold Medina

Funky Cold Medina

• Artist: Tone-Loc
• Label: Delicious Vinyl Records/4th & B'Way Records
• Album: Loc-ed After Dark

]]> Videos http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=17840&vid=214078 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=17840&vid=214078 19 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT Tone-Loc - Wild Thing

Wild Thing

• Artist: Tone-Loc
• Label: Delicious Vinyl
• Album: Loc-ed After Dark

]]> Videos http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=17840&vid=10203 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=17840&vid=10203 6 Feb 2001 12:00:00 EST