Well, that was one hell of a tribute. Before Will Smith accepted the MTV Movie Awards' Generational Award, the actor/singer/entertainer extraordinaire was honored with moving speeches from Queen Latifah, who toured with Smith back in the day, and Halle Berry, who praised Smith for breaking barriers in Hollywood. But before all of that, Smith was gifted with a musical tribute from the Lonely Island. The group performed a medley of Smith's hits, from the theme song of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air to Smith's iconic "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," all with a lot of '90s flair. And oh, were there many throwback references in the Lonely Island Will Smith tribute to enjoy, all of which had Smith himself dancing in his seat.
For those of you who still don't know, the Lonely Island are a trio best known for their Saturday Night Live digital shorts like "I'm On A Boat." Members Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone took to the stage at the MTV Movie Awards, which was pre-taped on Saturday night, dressed in their best Fresh Prince gear — wacky patterned T-shirts and overalls with one strap undone. They stormed the stage to honor Smith's large body of work, with a heavy focus on his '90s hits, Fresh Prince, Men In Black, and "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It." You can watch the performance below.
The Lonely Island started with, what else, "Parents Just Don't Understand," before going into the iconic Fresh Prince theme song, and later moving into a dance-heavy performance of "Men in Black." Background dancers wore bright colors, while others were dressed perfectly as the Men in Black. The trio soundly ended with "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," or, as Samberg said after a failed attempt to perform all of the songs at once and backwards, "Let's just end on 'Jiggy.'"
Smith loved the performance, smiling and laughing in his seat. He even gave the group a standing ovation, and I can't be the only '90s kid who did the same to my TV.
