‘Born and raised’: Will Smith returns home for West Philadelphia street naming in his honor

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A section of West Philadelphia’s 59th Street is now officially known as Will Smith Way in honor of multi-Grammy-award winner Will Smith. Mayor Cherelle Parker and other city leaders joined Smith to unveil the new street name Wednesday morning across the street from Overbrook High School, where Smith attended.

The “Fresh Prince” star, whose movies have combined to gross nearly $7 billion, spoke about how his father taught him the “Will Smith way.”

“You don’t get anything without discipline and hard work. You can’t make a life if you’re not willing to sacrifice and you’re not willing to suffer and work for your dreams,” Smith said.

He added that Philly was where he learned to have a strong work ethic and the need for a good education. “My mother would say all the time, ‘They can’t take what’s in your head baby,’” Smith said. “My mother was serious about education.”

Before he spoke, city leaders and even Overbrook’s principal recited some of Smith’s history in Philly, including an interaction with his 10th-grade teacher who used to refer to him as “Prince Charming.” Smith put his own spin on that nickname to help launch his wildly successful music, television and film career.

“The name ‘The Fresh Prince’ was coined in that building, and Miss Brown, who was the teacher that made me, she called me ‘Prince.’” Smith recalled. “And I added the ‘Fresh’ ’cause it was hip-hop slang.”

Mayor Parker presented Smith with the first “key to the city” issued by her administration during the event.

Smith was met with several requests during the ceremony. Overbrook High leaders asked for his help with their upcoming 100th anniversary, and Parker asked Smith to help the city celebrate next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, as well as bring some of his famous Philly friends for a Fourth of July blowout concert.

“What if all of our hometown heroes, what if [DJ Jazzy] Jeff and The Roots and Jill [Scott] and Black Thought and me and anybody who has connections to Philadelphia, and we could bring them all back for a concert on the Parkway?” Parker said.

Smith seemed to agree to Parker’s proposal.

“I will certainly be here myself,” he said. “Jill Scott is in my rolodex. I will certainly reach out to Jill. Meek Mill and I are friends. I will certainly reach out to Meek.”

For the first time since 2005, Smith is set to release a new album this week called “Based on a True Story.” The Friday release is part of three albums he plans to release this year.