![]() ![]() ![]() Last year, D Smoke was working at the High School For Recording Arts in Los Angeles-where he taught music engineering, English and financial literacy-when he learned about an opportunity to appear on Netflix. “And being a thoughtful artist and having a very specific story and a commitment to my community, sometimes it feels like that road is longer.” Seizing an opportunity “I didn’t want to compromise certain values just to get quicker looks prematurely,” he said. D Smoke also co-founded Woodworks Records, an independent label, with his uncle a 2011 video shows D Smoke singing a Stevie Wonder song with his family.ĭ Smoke said that while he strived for mainstream success, he sometimes felt at odds with the industry’s demands. While D Smoke held down a day job, he continued to write music for other artists, record his own mixtapes, and perform with his brothers in their group the Woodworks-which opened for Kendrick Lamar at West Hollywood hotspot Whisky a Go Go in 2011. I think it gave a lot of positive inspirational energy for me to put into my music.” “I got bit by the bug-it was beautiful work,” D Smoke said. He would also earn songwriting credits for songs by the Pussycat Dolls and Ginuwine.īut D Smoke never committed to music full-time: after attending college at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), he went back to teach Spanish at his alma mater, Inglewood High School, after he was personally offered a job by the school’s principal. More than a decade ago, D Smoke and his other brother, Davion Farris, won an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award for co-writing Jaheim’s 2007 song “Never,” which peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In a phone conversation, the rapper talked about his musical background, his initial skepticism about appearing on Rhythm and Flow, and how he plans to spend the $250,000 cash prize.ĭ Smoke comes from a family of musicians: his mother is a piano instructor and a professional singer, while his brother is SiR, the R&B singer who is signed to TDE, Kendrick Lamar’s label. “I’ve worked hard to put myself in a position to just be prepared for something like this,” D Smoke told TIME after his win. ![]() Since then, D Smoke has split time as a musician and an educator, teaching high school students while also quietly racking up songwriting credits and recording his own music. In the series finale, Cardi B gushed about D Smoke’s performance, saying, “I really see a star.” She then mimicked a phone call to another famous rapper: “Hellooooo, Kendrick Lamar! I have a friend for you!”īut Cardi B probably didn’t realize that D Smoke has already crossed paths with Lamar in the past, opening for the rapper in West Hollywood eight years ago. rapper employed dense flows, probing protest lyrics and a mastery of several instruments to rise above his competitors in the finals, which included the Atlanta firebrand Londynn B and the versatile Providence, R.I. The first season of Netflix’s hip-hop competition show Rhythm and Flow has come to a close, and judges Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and T.I. Warning: This article contains spoilers for Rhythm and Flow. ![]()
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