Inglewood, California’s own D Smoke made his mainstream breakthrough in 2019 as the first winner of the reality rap competition Rhythm & Flow. However, by that time, the bilingual multi-instrumentalist had already been busy on the scene for over a decade as both a songwriter and an underground figure influenced as much by West Coast predecessors Kurupt and Snoop Dogg as well as gospel singers Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams.
Bridging genres as well as the Black and Latinx communities, D Smoke also spent years as a Spanish and music theory teacher at his own alma mater, Inglewood High School. Soon after winning Rhythm & Flow, he issued his official debut, the Grammy-nominated Black Habits, in 2020.
D Smoke was featured on Fox Soul‘s The Mix talk show yesterday (November 9), where he talked about his new album, being inspired by Outkast, covering socially conscious street tales of empowerment, and more.
Check out D Smoke on Fox Soul’s The Mix below:
