It's become pretty well established that most rappers will attempt to act at some point in their careers—XXL even recently ran a list naming 22 MCs who actually have acting chops. But what about the opposite: celebrities picking up the mic? Drake and Childish Gambino have proven that it's possible to make the switch, but the success of these two goes down as more of an outlier than a trend.

While XXL has covered the subject in detail in the past, our recent 22 unexpected celebrity hip-hop heads list got us thinking who else in the past few years has attempted to show and prove on the mic. Now, here are 22 other celebrities who have turned to hip-hop.


Brian Austin Green

While he's definitely not the worst on this list, Beverly Hills, 90210 star Brian Austin Green definitely made a regrettable decision to try his hand at rhyming with his 1996 album, One Stop Carnival. Then again, he married Megan Fox, and we didn't, so clearly he did something right with it.


Natalie Portman

No, Natalie Portman's rhymes weren't meant to be serious—the above video is an SNL Digital Short, after all. But it's definitely not a bad thing to see Queen Amidala get gully on fools.


Tina Fey

Childish Gambino brought out his 30 Rock cohort to spit a verse on last year's "Real Estate" off his mixtape Royalty. While it's safe to say that Gambino provided Fey with the bars, we honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Saturday Night Live alum could spit for real.


DeSean Jackson

Not only does the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver own his own label, Jaccpot Records, but he also rhymes and produces, as evidenced by his collaborative effort with Gillie Da Kid, "On My Dip." Suffice to say, most Eagles fans would like D-Jax to stick to football.


Wayne Brady

Earlier this week, Wayne Brady broke out his rap skills for a second time (see our previous celebrities-who-rap list) when the comedian spit a nearly seven-minute freestyle on Sway In the Morning. Rappers, take note—if a comedian is more adept with going off the top of the dome than you, it's time to consider a new career.


James Franco

Actor James Franco dived into the world of hip-hop headfirst with his recent role in the Harmony Korine flick Spring Breakers, a character that Riff Raff claims was based off of him. We're no experts, but XXL suggests that Franco and Riff Raff should probably battle rap out their differences.


Kevin Durant

In the grand spectrum of athletes of who rap, Kevin Durant certainly isn't the worst—in fact, he's actually got a decent handle of flow and has a few punchlines that are genuinely good. Still, more fans would probably prefer KD to stick to dropping points than dropping bars.


Chris Parnell

Even though it was the Lonely Island's Andy Samberg who blew up off the song, SNL veteran Chris Parnell joined Samberg for some throwback shout-rap glory on "Lazy Sunday." Cupcakes and The Chronicles Of Narnia never sounded more gangsta.


Miley Cyrus

Before she started kicking it with Tyler, the Creator and French Montana, Miley Cyrus' only claim to rap fame was when she used rhymes to tell her fans why she was taking a leave of absence from Twitter. Kudos to her for trying to bring back New Jack Swing, though.


Iman Shumpert

You've got to hand it to Shump—he attempts something more creative than the average basketball star's rap song, and he more than lives up to the legacy inherent to his Kid 'n Play high top fade. At the same time, though, he does boast about men's fragrances, which is pretty soft body.

Harley Morenstein of Epic Meal Time

While Epic Meal Time may not be a household name, the comedic cooking show's frontman, Harley Morenstein, is definitely clocking in YouTube views. In this video, the Canadian "chef" brings his bacon-loving, whiskey-swilling persona into the rap world. Hilarity (and hunger) ensues.


John Krasinski

While The Office star doesn't exactly rap in the above clip—it's a lip sync battle between him and Jimmy Fallon—he does nail the performance aspect of Run DMC's "Peter Piper." Still, Fallon won the round by rocking with Das EFX.


The Cast Of Workaholics

Adam, Anders and Blake are hardly strangers to hip-hop—the trio has dropped a whole host of rap references throughout the show's three seasons. But the stars took things to the next level when they brought out their rapping wizard alter egos in an episode.


Arian Foster

Even though he seems to keep it pretty close to the chest, Houston Texans running back Arian Foster spends his spare time rapping. The video at the top isn't the greatest audio quality, but Foster comes across as surprisingly adept on the mic, adopting an internal rhyme-heavy flow a la Canibus.


The 1988 Philadelphia Eagles

Although most people remember the 1985 Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle," the 1988 Philadelphia Eagles released their own hip-hop hit, titled "Buddy's Watching You." Sadly, like their Super Bowl aspirations that season (and every other season for that matter), the Birds failed to deliver.


Scumbag Steve

Many people have seen the Internet meme Scumbag Steve, but did you know that the real person behind the photo released a rap? In an attempt to cash in on his unintentional Internet fame, Scumbag Steve
—a.k.a. Blake Boston—released a rap song that lives up to his scummy moniker.


Lou Williams

The Philadelphia 76ers guard is somewhat of a rarity in his field, in that he's not actually a bad rapper. Yes, Williams bites pretty much every element of Meek Mill's style—from his choppy flow to his insistance on shouting every lyric—but he's definitely a step above his basketball peers.


https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F79075932

Trevor Bauer

The sole baseball player on this list, Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer sounds overwhelmed by the notion of rhythm on his song "You Don't Know Me." He also apparently lacks an understanding of breath control, 'cause dude is huffing and puffing straight through the song.


Brandy

Yes, that Brandy, as in Ray J's sister. And you know what? It's infinitely better than "I Hit It First."


Shia Labeouf

Over the weekend, a clip showing the actor spitting off-the-cuff rhymes in a park surfaced online.


Daniel Radcliffe

Who knew Harry Potter himself was a hip-hop head? The actor, who has moved on with a slew of edgy roles since playing the boy wizard, was recording spitting Eminem's "Real Slim Shady" word for word at a California karaoke night lately. Pretty impressive!


Craig Ferguson

DJ Whoo Kid and Craig Robinson had a fun conversation discussing the comedian’s variety of roles throughout his career. But Whoo Kid changed everything when he put Robinson on the spot by asking the actor to deliver a freestyle. Robinson answered the challenge as best he could with a shaky yet hilarious rap featuring Whoo Kid supplying the beat. You can watch the whole freestyle begin around the 10:25-mark in the above video.

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