YoungstaCPT Reveals Will Smith’s Influence On His Rap Career

YoungstaCPT Reveals Will Smith’s Influence On His Rap Career. Considering the multitude of hit tracks he’s delivered, it’s natural to wonder what spurred YoungstaCPT to delve into the realm of hip-hop and become a staunch advocate for social issues gripping the people of Capetown and South Africa at large.

YoungstaCPT has traversed a path familiar to many—a journey where he, like any other kid growing up, found inspiration in the footsteps of his role models. Behind the impact he has made in SA Hip Hop lies a surprising source of inspiration: the multifaceted career of Will Smith.

In an interview with GQ Magazine, YoungstaCPT reminisced about his formative years, highlighting how he grew up watching Will Smith’s iconic roles in television shows like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and blockbuster films such as “Men in Black.”

Will Smith’s charismatic presence on screen left an indelible mark on the then-young rapper, igniting a passion for entertainment and YoungstaCPT‘s first encounter with rap music.

“I would say that my first encounter with rap music and the rap personality was Will Smith. That may sound odd now, but I was six years old. I was a big Will Smith fan. The catchy theme music of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air caught my attention and then he made Men in Black and its theme song, and I was fascinated by his duality of acting and rapping. The way he dressed and how he carried himself when he was on the song versus when he was in the movie. That was my measurement of what a rapper is at the start,” said YoungstaCPT.

Despite initially being introduced to rap music by the veteran actor Will Smith, YoungstaCPT revealed to GQ Magazine that he was raised in a household deeply infused with a passion for music. The acclaimed rapper shared that his mother’s profound love for 90s Hip Hop and R&B made it effortless for him to seamlessly blend into the musical zeitgeist.

“I’ve always been surrounded by this music. My mother was a big fan of late 90s hip hop and R&B, and house music. There was also a lot of urban music being fed to me through TV – SABC 1, Simunye Grooves etc., and I would record those music videos on TV with cassettes. I was very captivated by it and many people thought it was a phase that I was probably going to get over it. I don’t blame them. How do you tell a six, seven, eight-year-old that this is what you can become in life. No one looked at it like a valid profession,” he added.