BY PARFIT • APRIL 27, 2019

Last month, a video clip titled Bel-Air took the web and social media by storm. The short film was a trailer, conceived and directed by emerging filmmaker Morgan Cooper, which re-imagined The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air as a drama, set in 2019. The video did not focus on lookalikes or catch-phrases gleaned from the original show. Instead, it honed in on core themes underlying the premises of the series, and portrayed them with the depth and thought of the kind of dramas typically reserved for pay TV channels.

Needless to say, in a world where virtually everyone is connected, the clip made its way to Will Smith, the Fresh Prince, himself. Smith was so taken by Bel-Air that he reached out to Cooper, and extended an invitation to the auteur to come to Miami and discuss his vision with Smith. Yesterday (April 26), Smith released a video chronicling the conversation shared by the two men.

Will begins his video with a montage of contemporary creators–Issa Rae, Lil Dicky, Liza Koshy and Lil Nas X–who have completely changed the course of their lives by bypassing the system and releasing their art directly to fans. It is a powerful statement from a superstar whose entire career was built within a gatekeeping culture which he, himself, helped to change. Smith, after all, was the first Rap star to prove that he could succeed in Hollywood, on the biggest levels.

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