Thank the New Years Baby (and this post on NY Mag’s Vulture) that I don’t have to figure out all the rappers turned Actors! and their levels of success crossing over.  In a nutshell, from most Actor! to least Actor!, I present their list (which is worth checking out):

1. Will Smith
2. Marky Mark
3. Queen Latifah
4. Ice Cube
5. Common
6. Ice-T
7. Mos Def
8. 50 Cent
9. Tupac
10. Ludacris
11. Drake
12. Snoop Dogg
13. Eminem

Sure, this list missed plenty of others, such as:

• LL Cool J – “NCIS: Los Angeles,” Any Given Sunday
• Xzibit – Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, xXx: State of the Union
• T.I. – Takers, ATL
• DMX – Cradle 2 The Grave, Exit Wounds
• Ja Rule – Assault on Precinct 13, The Fast and the Furious

Oh wait, and there’s also:

• Bow Wow – Lottery Ticket, Like Mike
• André 3000 – Four Brother, Be Cool
• Big Boi – Idlewild, Who’s Your Caddy?
• Method Man – “The Wire,” How High
• Redman – Seed of Chucky, How High

Damn.  That list didn’t help as much as I thought.  I found ten more on my (sorta) own.

Anywhooptiewoon****wut, that being said, how many rockers can you name?

• Jon Bon Jovi (Pay It Forward, U-571)
• Gene Simmons (Extract, Runaway)
• Chris Isaak (Silence of the Lambs, Married to the Mob)
• Mick Jagger (Freejack, Ned Kelly)
• Joan Jett (Light of Day)
• …Neil Diamond? (The Jazz Singer)

It’s a fairly scant list with not a large catalog behind them.  What if you add in huge popular stars?

• Elvis Presley (a bunch of films)
• Frank Sinatra (Manchurian Candidate)
• Madonna (Evita, Despertely Seeking Susan)
• Barbra Streisand (Little Fockers, Funny Girl)
• Cher (Moonstruck, Mask)
• Prince (Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon)
• Diana Ross (The Wiz, Lady Sings the Blues)
• Mariah Carey (Precious, Glitter)
• Janet Jackson (Poetic Justice, Why Did I Get Married?)

And the ingenues?

• Britney Spears (Crossroads)
• Jessica Simpson (The Dukes of Hazzard, Employee of the Month)
• Mandy Moore (Tangled, Saved!)
• Christina Aguilera (Burlesque, Shark Tale)
• Avril Lavigne (Over the Hedge, Fast Food Nation)
• Ashanti (Coach Carter, John Tucker Must Die)
• Aaliyah (Romeo Must Die, Queen of the Damned)

…oh yeah, and…

• Justin Timberlake (The Social Network, Alpha Dog)

And finally, I can’t forget about country folk and the rest:

• Dolly Parton (Nine to Five, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas)
• Harry Connick, Jr. (P.S. I Love You, Hope Floats)
• Dwight Yoakam (Sling Blade, Red Rock West)
• Travis Tritt (The Cowboy Way, Fire Down Below)

Let’s add all that up (correctly assuming I’ve missed much):

• 23 rappers
• 6 rock stars
• 9 pop stars
• 8 ingenues
• 4 country stars

Quite the spread.  My theory on why this is happens to be the same reason why comedians can cross into acting easier than Actors! can become comical…

Their day job is a lot harder.

In other words, it’s like asking a heart surgeon to bring in shopping carts.