PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In West Philadelphia the place he was born and raised, now there’s a avenue referred to as Will Smith Approach.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and metropolis leaders honored the Oscar and Grammy winner on Wednesday, renaming a avenue subsequent to Smith’s previous highschool.
“Philly, I love you. I am yours. You are mine,” Smith stated at a ceremony alongside a bit of 59th Avenue that now bears his title.
He reminisced about studying the values of onerous work and training from his mom and father earlier than hitting it large as an actor and rapper.
“Nobody gets an easy ride,” he stated. “That was one of the things these streets of Philadelphia taught me: that there’s nothing wrong with a hard day’s work.”
Amongst those that got here out to see him was a former trainer who was the primary to name him “Prince Charming” — a nickname he modified up a bit for the Nineties TV present “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” wherein Smith performed a young person from Philadelphia who goes to dwell with kin in Los Angeles.
“The title `The Recent Prince’ was coined in that constructing,” Smith said, pointing back at Overbrook High School. “I added the ‘fresh’ because it was hip-hop slang.”
Smith will launch his fifth studio album “Based on a True Story” on Friday. It’s his first music undertaking in 20 years since “Lost and Found.”
He received Grammys for “Summertime,” “Men In Black,” “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” He is additionally starred within the motion pictures “Bad Boys,” “Men in Black” and “King Richard.”
