Will Smith And Tatyana Ali Join Doechii For ‘Fresh Prince’ Dance Remake To Viral “Anxiety” Song

Fans were in for a few surprises this week when Will Smith and Tatyana Ali jumped on Doechii‘s viral “Anxiety” TikTok challenge. Now, things have gotten even more nostalgic as the two Fresh Prince of Belair stars and Doechii linked up to complete the iconic dance scene together.

On Thursday (March 13), Smith surprised social media with his take on the eerie yet addictive trend. In the now-viral clip, he bobs his head to the haunting hook, “Somebody’s watchin’ me, it’s my anxiety,” while staring into a mirror. Then, in a twist, his reflection turns out to be the “Swamp Princess” taking his place.

With so many edits of the classic scene where Will catches Ashley Banks (Ali) dancing to her Walkman and joins in, it was only a matter of time before they recreated it together. Today (March 14), Smith reunited with Ali to bring the moment back to life as the two effortlessly stepped back into their roles, with Doechii making a surprise appearance at the end.

“Waited 35 years for this dance to trend,” Smith captioned the iconic moment from the 1990 pilot episode. See below.

With the highly anticipated re-release of her song “Anxiety” — originally recorded in her bedroom in 2019 as part of her Coven Music Sessions — the track was never officially available for streaming, until now. After years of relentless demands from fans, the Top Dawg Entertainment artist re-recorded her vocals and finally gave the people what they wanted.

The track, which was famously sampled on Sleepy Hallow’s song of the same name, features Doechii’s hypnotic melodies: “Anxiety, keep on trying me/ I feel it quietly, tryna silence me (yeah)/ My anxiety, can’t shake it off of me/ Somebody’s watching me, and my anxiety.”

Then, in true Doechii fashion, she switches gears, delivering rapid-fire bars: “Solo, no mojo/ I bounce back, no pogo/ Unhappy, no homo/ New brands, no logos/ Money on my juggla, natural hustler/ Think I need a smuggler up in Russia.”

Fans wasted no time rallying behind the release. A teaser clip of Doechii performing the Fresh Prince dance exploded on TikTok, amassing over 80,000 mentions within 24 hours. By the end of the weekend, that number had skyrocketed to 650,000, and once the full track dropped, its original video soared from 200,000 views to a staggering 3 million.

“I have never seen an artist immediately run to the studio to release a song that couldn’t be streamed everywhere. You have to love Doechii,” one fan commented, while another praised, “I love my generation of artists. Y’all listen, and truly commit to your art as well as your fans. You’re a lyrical and musical genius, Doechii—truly blessed by the Muses! Thank you!”

Fresh off her historic Grammy win for Alligator Bites Never Heal, Doechii has been riding an unstoppable wave since last year. Doechii, neé Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, became only the third Black woman to take home the award for Best Rap Album at the Grammy’s, following in the footsteps of Cardi B and Lauryn Hill. The moment was made even more powerful when Cardi herself handed Doechii the award, and the rapper took the stage in tears with her mother by her side.

In an emotional acceptance speech, she reflected on her journey and offered words of encouragement to Black women navigating the music industry. “I have to thank God, I need to thank my beautiful mother for coaching me. I want to thank my label, my engineer Jada for everything she did, my fans the Swamp,” she said. “There’s so many people out there who probably don’t know who I am. I call myself the ‘Swamp Princess’ because I’m from Tampa… record labels, go to Tampa, there’s talent there. Thank you so much to my label TDE. Thank you to Hip-Hop.”

She ended with a powerful message: “The last thing I want to say… I know that there is some Black girl out there… and I want to tell you that you can do it. Anything is possible. Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes onto you. You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are and I am a testimony. Praise God.”

Beyond its viral success, the “Anxiety” challenge can apparently resonate on a deeper level. According to TODAY, Psychotherapist and columnist, Niro Feliciano, explained that the trend actually helps normalize conversations around anxiety and allows people to reclaim control over their emotions.

“People often feel paralyzed by anxiety and its effects, and the dance shows that we are not,” Feliciano told the news outlet. “It gives us something to do—and even dance in and of itself can help to overcome some of the symptoms.”

Additionally, in a 2021 UCLA Health study, it found that conscious dance practices can significantly improve mental health for participants suffering from anxiety, depression, or PTSD. “We also know dancing, like other physical exercise, releases mood-elevating hormones, such as serotonin and endorphins,” Feliciano added. “It is nearly impossible to feel anxiety when we do things like dance, sing, or anything creative, which requires many physiological processes.”

So, for those who have been tempted to join in on the “Anxiety” dance craze, it may be more than just a fun challenge. It might just be the stress reliever you never knew you needed.

Check out Doechii, Will Smith and Tatyana Ali hitting the nostalgic moves to “Anxiety” above.