Memes roll in as Doechii, Will Smith, and Tatyana Ali revive dance from ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ with ‘Anxiety’

Rock In Rio 2024 - Day 4 - Source: Getty
Will Smith performs on Sunset Stage as part of the Rock In Rio Festival (Source: Getty)

Will Smith is revisiting his 90s persona. He was joined by Tatyana Ali and rapper Doechii, who together recreated a scene from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and infused it with the TikTok trend. The original moment - Ashley Banks dancing with a Walkman as Will Smith comes in has now been recreated and set to Doechii’s hit song Anxiety.

On March 14, 2025, Will Smith shared the adaptation on TikTok, captioning it:

“Waited 35 years for this dance to trend.”

Doechii joined in the middle of the dance and altered the iconic moment to make it her own. What started as a stroll through memories quickly became an Internet sensation.

Not all of his fans proved to be as supportive. Social media users made fun of Smith for “trying to stay relevant” only to tear down his dance moves instead.

Some users went slightly more drastic, joking that the actor had a... fall.

A user (@jjpracticealoha) stated:

"Will trying his best to be relevant."

Another user (@sorealCee) also mentioned:

"I don’t know how to feel about this."

A user (@DKJBarry1) asked:

"Why?"

One user (@SirSippinPuff) poked fun, stating:

"Will…damn….what a fall."

Of course, some people skipped the words entirely and just let the memes do the talking.

This is how the user sees all of them together.

One user chose a GIF that probably said what did I just see!

One user reacted with the OG dance itself.

Meanwhile, a user "canceled" all of them. They even used not one but two clown emojis.

Still contemplating their feelings, a user (@Yatsomurda9) stated:

"I don’t know this looks weird to me."

This does feel like a glitch in the timeline.


Doechii’s Anxiety just became the throwback soundtrack ft. Will Smith

If Doechii was off your radar, she probably isn’t now.

Originally introduced on her Coven Music Sessions in 2019, Anxiety gained immense popularity on TikTok as a sound most recently used during the “Split Challenge,” which quickly propelled it to fame.

This was the ideal song for the retro dance revival because it even sampled Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know.


Will Smith's music makes a comeback: Are we excited or nervous?

Will Smith performs onstage during The World Big Sleep Out event (Source: Getty)
Will Smith performs onstage during The World Big Sleep Out event (Source: Getty)

Apparently, Smith is not just betting everything on viral TikTok videos. He's dropping a new album, Based on a True Story, on March 28, with features from Teyana Taylor, Jaden Smith, and Obanga.

It's been years since he's had a major music drop, and there are some excited fans and some hopeful ones with fingers crossed.

With singles like Beautiful Scars and First Love already teasing his return, Smith will be reminding everyone that he's more than the guy who was on Fresh Prince.


The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ran from 1990 to 1996 and effectively made Will Smith a household name.

The sitcom followed a Philly teen who became a guest in the residence of his prosperous Bel-Air relatives, with jokes injected with current events.

Tatyana Ali, who played Ashley Banks, was everybody's cute, fashionable cousin.

Years after, it appears the show's influence still lingers.

Edited by Abhimanyu Sharma
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