Smino's "blkswn"
What’s up guys! So on Tuesday, I
decided to listen to an artist I’ve heard about for a while due to my friends.
His name is Smino, and he’s a part of a trend of hip hop that I’ve noticed has
taken a space in the rap atmosphere with its usage of funk, electro-beat, and
chill hip hop beats. I didn’t listen Smino before, so it was something new to
experience as I played his music. Upon listening to the starting track of his
album “blkswn”, I knew this was going to be something different. Smino uses his
opportunity to use his debut project as a chance to combine his identity and
his unique sound he’s created. Songs like Glass Flow, B Role, and Amphetamine
show his usage of calmer yet sophisticated rhymes as he talks about his
complicated life surrounding maturity and substance abuse. One thing I
personally enjoyed about Smino was his ability to experiment with his lyricism,
having unique and fun word play with examples being “Edgar Allen Poe’D Up” and
“Father Son Holy Smoke”. Upon finishing the album, I felt like what I got out
of the album was an artist that chooses to create his own path towards how he
presents us his story, going outside of the box with unique beats that take
inspirations from jazz, funk, electro-beat, and R&B.
I also
decided to listen to his second album, “NOIR”, and it’s again furthering the
uniqueness Smino brings to hip-hop along with a new sense of confidence. The
album name shows this bravery as we hear lines of his girlfriend talking about
how the word “noir” means extravagant and purely black in the first track. This
idea is furthered through the album as we hear snippets of influences Smino has
gathered in his life to create an album like this, featuring voices of his
friends, family, and strangers in St. Louis. I enjoyed this developed charisma,
and it was also nice to see that his wordplay hasn’t changed with tracks such
as “L.M.F” and “TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD”. Overall, these two albums did a great job
in showing me a rounded picture of who the artist “Smino” is, and a glance at
this unique form of music that’s circulating today.
Favorite Songs:
“blkswn” : Wild Irish Roses, Glass Flows, Spitshine, Netflix
& Dusse, Father Son Holy Smoke, B Role, Blkoscars, Amphetamine
“NOIR” : KLINK, SPINZ, Z4L, WE GOT THE BISCUITS, PIZANO,
FENTY SEX, KRUSHED ICE, MF GROOVE
IMPORTANT: none of the music heard on the video is mine and
are owned respectively by their artists and music labels.
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