Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Show changed D Smoke’s trajectory
The first time Grammy-nominated rapper D Smoke interacted with Cardi B, she was judging him on the 2019 premiere episode of the Netflix competition series “Rhythm + Flow.” Wearing a brown knit cap and utilitarian coveralls more suited for a mechanic than a wannabe rap star, he had just performed his opening freestyle rap to a four-judge panel that also included Snoop Dogg, Chance the Rapper and T.I.
Commenting on his janitorial outfit, Cardi B expressed surprise at D Smoke’s bilingual skills with a back-handed compliment: “You really impressed me, because when I saw you, I thought you was gonna mop some floors.” Cue audience laughter. Little did she know that D Smoke would soon metaphorically mop floors with the competition by winning the reality show’s no-strings-attached $250,000 prize money. Nor could she have predicted that a year later, he’d earn two Grammy nominations in the best new artist and rap album categories for “Black Habits,” an independently released concept album based on his family’s life growing up in Inglewood, California.
His G-clef neck tattoo is proof of a life devoted to musical achievement. But attaining it through a reality show was not part of the plan, D Smoke says.
“My trajectory has been different. Given my experience on ‘Rhythm + Flow,’ I was thrown into a high level of visibility in a way that most artists kind of climb their way into,” he said.
Born Daniel Farris, Smoke, 35, could barely be called a “new” artist at all. By the time he tried out for the Netflix show, he’d been building a professional foundation for more than two decades.
That experience was apparent as he decimated the competition. and landed representation with CAA. He had already finished about half of “Black Habits.”
“Black Habits” is dense with experience and wisdom that comes with being a 35-year-old artist in what is too often considered a young man’s game.
Age, in fact, became a point of contention when this year’s rap album Grammy nominees were announced. Filled with thirty- and fortysomething veterans including Nas, Royce Da 5’9,” Freddie Gibbs and Jay Electronica, critics complained that Recording Academy voters seemed out of touch with popular young rappers such as Pop Smoke, Lil Baby and Da Baby dominating the charts.
Smoke says his veteran peers have earned their kudos.
“Music should reach people on multiple levels,” he says. “Sometimes I just want to be entertained, and that’s cool. But I know that it’s a win for so many people when artists who have content and speak with a sense of conviction and honesty and truth about their experience and the experience of people who look like them.”
He adds, “It’s a beautiful thing when so many artists with that kind of voice get recognized.”
Dec. 26 birthdays:
Singer Abdul “Duke” Fakir is 85. Record producer Phil Spector is 81. TV host John Walsh is 75. Bassist George Porter Jr. is 73. Humorist David Sedaris is 64. Drummer Lars Ulrich is 57. Actor Jared Leto is 49. Singer Chris Daughtry is 41. Actor Beth Behrs is 35. Actor Kit Harington is 34. Actor Eden Sher is 29.