Lights, Camera, Bars! These 6 Actors Proved Their Skills on Both Screen and the Mic

These rappers, from dropping bars to stealing scenes, prove they're not one-trick ponies.

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Rapping and acting go hand in hand, oo it’s no wonder rappers like 50 Cent, Ludacris and Queen Latifah have turned to a life on the silver screen and do it convincingly. Yet, there are some thespians-turned-MCs. Here are five of the best thespians on the mic. (Photo: Courtesy Glassnote Records)

Photo By L-R (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage), (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

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Before joining the Fugees, New Jersey native, Lauryn Hill was already appearing on the stage and screen. Her first major acting role came in 1991 via the soap opera As the World Turns in a recurring role as troubled teenager Kira Johnson.

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Write Away - Childish Gambino has written for 30 Rock and The Daily Show. (Photo: Courtesy Glassnote Records)

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Donald Glover is a prime example of rapping actors gone well. Acting since the early 2002s, as Childish Gambino, Glover has become a superstar and even earned a No. 1 in 2018 with "This Is America." He is also a five-time Grammy winner. (Photo: Courtesy Glassnote Records)

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Drake (@Drake)  - TWEET: “I can’t even find the words to express my appreciation... ‘thank you and I owe you’ is all that comes to mind...truly.” Drake shows his appreciation to his fans after it’s announced that his album was expected to top the charts. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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Drake is hands-down one of the best actors-turned-rappers ever. His role as the disabled character, Jimmy Brooks, on Degrassi: The Next Generation garnered the Canadian a teen heartthrob's following. Once he got down with Lil Wayne’s Young Money, Drake unleashed a fury of chart-topping songs and has earned five Grammys. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Mack Wilds Is Ready - Celebrate the release of Mack Wilds' New York: A Love Story tonight at 6P/5C!(Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)

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Acting since the age of seven, Tristan Wilds made a name for himself as an actor in The Wire, the revamped 90210 and the blockbuster Red Tails. Tristan is also an MC who goes by the name Mack Wilds. In 2014, he received a Grammy nomination in the Best Urban Contemporary Album category for New York: A Love Story, which charted at No. 15 on the Billboard R&B album chart. Although he hasn't released music since 2017, we can't forget his hip hop history. (Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)

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While Terrance Howard is still definitely an Oscar nominated actor, his bars cannot be denied in Hustle & Flow, which earned him an Oscar nod for Best Actor. On the album's soundtrack, he performed on three tracks as Djay, the lead role in Hustle & Flow as the street hustler-turned-rapper.

Photo By (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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While Nick Cannon got his start in the rap group Da G4 Dope Bomb Squad back in 1999, he first began as an actor in the Nickelodeon series All That in 1998. Cannon would tour while in the group Da G4 Dope Bomb Squad, but his star truly began to rise in 2002's Drumline and 2003's Love Don't Cost a Thing. Cannon never forgot the music. In 2005, he launched Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out, which has been on air for 18 seasons. Cannon has only released two albums but you can also hear his bars on Wild 'N Out.

Photo By (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images)