LOOKING AT THE LONG GAME
Veteran Inglewood artist D Smoke propels himself to two nods with masterful strategy on a Netf lix reality competition show.
The rise of D Smoke from a Netf lix contest show was no accident.
THE FIRST time Grammy- nominated Inglewood rapper D Smoke interacted with Cardi B, she was judging him on the 2019 premiere episode of the Netf lix competition series “Rhythm + Flow.” Wearing a brown knit cap and 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, Chance the Rapper and T. I.
Commenting on his janitorial outfit, Car di B expressed surprise at D Smoke’ s bilingual skills with a backhanded 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 had nearly stepped away from “Rhythm +
Flow” a day before production began or that he would soon metaphorically mop f loors 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 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.
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 during a recent Zoom call from his loft in downtown L. A.
“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. In fact, by the time he tried out for the Netf lix show, he’d been building a professional foundation for more than two decades. That experience was apparent as he decimated the competition: He successfully strategized each on- air challenge with the forethought of a chess grandmaster.
Growing up, he and brothers Davion and Sir — the latter of whom is signed to Top Dawg Records, home to Kendrick Lamar — gained insight into the business as adolescents in the early ’ 00s, when they signed with DreamWorks Records as a sibling R& B vocal group called N3D. They were raised by a mom, Jackie Gouché, who earned a living as a professional singer — she toured with both Michael Jackson and Anita Baker — and a dad who re- joined the family after being imprisoned on drug charges for the f irst nine years of Smoke’s life. His return home made all the difference — “Prison push- ups for your pecs and next it was burpee,” Smoke explains via rhymed couplets on the song “Like My Daddy.”
The track ends with his father, Ronald Farris, speaking into the microphone. “When I came home, the most important thing to me was to be a father to my sons,” he says. “I did also feel I had an unrepayable debt to my wife for holding on, for not replacing me, you know, not letting my sons call another man daddy — and so even being good to them is being good to her.”
A multi- instrumentalist, D Smoke attended UCLA and majored in Spanish. Understanding the market potential, the artist harnessed his bilingualism to write and rap verses in both English and Spanish. Via one- minute Instagram videos and social media tagging, he and his team were successfully building momentum. Enter the producers of “Rhythm + Flow.”
“They said, ‘ Hey, we see what you’re doing. You might want to consider this,’ ” Smoke recalls.
“Consider” was the operative word. By this point, the artist had a solid following. He also understood that most reality shows are built on manufactured drama. One verbal f lub or confused facial expression could be exploited by drama- addicted editors and suddenly, his brand is tainted.
But 10 episodes later, D Smoke had beaten the competition, banked a quartermillion and landed representation with the CAA talent agency. He’d already f inished about half of “Black Habits.” Released in February, the project features appearances by his brothers, his mom, Snoop Dogg and Jill Scott, among others.
“Black Habits” is dense with experience and wisdom that comes with being a 35year- 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 30- and 40- something 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 DaBaby dominating the charts.
Smoke says his veteran peers have earned their kudos. “Music should reach people on multiple levels,” he says. “It’s a win for so many people when artists speak with a sense of conviction and honesty and truth about their experience.”
He adds, “It’s a beautiful thing when so many artists with that kind of voice get recognized.”