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Many rappers have successfully transitioned to acting over the years. Will Smith, going from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to winning the ‘Best Actor’ Oscar for King Richard, is one of the most notable. There’s also Ice Cube, who has starred in beloved movies like Boyz n the Hood and Friday. Now, all signs point towards A$AP Rocky being the next breakout rapper-actor.

Earlier this year, Rocky was found not guilty in his assault trial, where he was accused of shooting his former friend. Since then, it feels like there’s been a buzz around him. Rocky will star in Spike Lee’s upcoming movie, Highest 2 Lowest, alongside Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and Ice Spice. The director praised Rocky for keeping his composure and holding his own against one of the greatest actors ever.

“Yeah, don’t sleep on A$AP,” Spike said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “In this film, Denzel and A$AP go toe-to-toe. What’s interesting is, even before I got involved with this film, I always thought that A$AP looked like he could be Denzel’s son. There’s a big resemblance. So when you see it on the screen, it adds an element of father and son.

“Don’t sleep on A$AP. I’ve done five films with Denzel, and a lot of times when he’s in a scene with somebody, they just get overwhelmed. He’s one of the greatest living actors today, but A$AP wasn’t having that. Toe-to-toe, I mean, they were going at it.”

Rocky stars as Yung Felon, a Harlem rapper who kidnaps the son of Denzel’s character, David King. He called it a “dream come true” to act alongside Denzel. “It was difficult to not fan the fuck out every millisecond of the fucking duration,” he told Variety. “It was crazy — it’s fucking Denzel, man.

“I don’t give a fuck how successful [I am]: I’m always gonna be a student and a fan of certain people, and I’m always going to give them their flowers. I’m never going to be too big to be able to say that I had to hold my composure from not fanning out.”

As well as Highest 2 Lowest, Rocky is set to star in another A24 movie, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. The psychological comedy drama, directed by Mary Bronstein, casts the rapper alongside Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, Danielle Macdonald, and Christian Slater. Rocky will play a man named James, who is a motel superintendent.

Despite landing two huge roles for 2025, this is far from his first time venturing into the movie world. Rocky made his acting debut in 2015 in the film Dope, which starred fellow rappers like Tyga, Vince Staples, and Casey Veggies. He also played himself in Zoolander 2 and Monster, and auditioned for the role of Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, which ultimately went to Donald Glover.

In recent years, a flurry of rappers have impacted the screen. Joey Bada$$ went from starring alongside Rami Malek in Mr Robot to the Oscar-winning Two Distant Strangers. Kid Cudi appeared in HBO’s How to Make It in America and starred in movies like Need for Speed and Bill and Ted Face the Music. Rocky is serious about acting and looks keen to match or even eclipse their success.

Speaking on method acting, Rocky said, “It’s being alone in your trailer, looking in the mirror, embodying that person. When you’re not on the set, or when you clock out, you’re still embodying that character. Around the beginning of shooting [Highest 2 Lowest], my family was still in California, so I got to really be this guy and go home [as him].”

If Spike’s comments are anything to go by, this could be the start of Rocky’s fruitful acting career. It’s been eight years since he released his last album, Testing, and his upcoming Don’t Be Dumb project is still on the way. However, music could be put even more on the back-burner if his Highest 2 Lowest and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You roles prove successful.