![]() People love what I did and represented on the show while being entertained by it at the same time. I’m getting messages from all over the world. ![]() To keep it completely honest, the reception has been amazing. How do you feel about having fans around the world who have fallen in love with your music during your time on Rhythm + Flow? It speaks to me authenticity as an artist, creative, and musician.īeing on the show has developed your relationship with the audience, in addition to your original support system of Inglewood. That’s going to be a huge part of my artistry to the same extent that playing the drums, singing, and rapping. Since the age of six, I’ve been playing the piano. My mom is a music instructor and minister of music. the last round’s challenge of making a live performance, I was like, “Okay, this is the time where we’re going to pull that rabbit out of the hat, so to speak, and show them my musicianship side.” To be honest, I’m a musician first. Going into the show, my goal was to do that before I left. Is the next direction for your artistry going to implement live band performances? ![]() Towards the later episodes, you incorporated live instrumentation into your performances which won over Cardi, T.I., and Chance. Prior to this, I knew exactly what I’m here to do and those things are still in motion. By the end of it, they thought of me as a peer. Submitting to three judges is very different, but by the time we had gotten into the later rounds, I felt like they appreciated what I was doing artistically and creatively. So it wasn’t the nerves of performing, but how would they receive and understand my art? Because I believe the audience…before I went on the show, I knew that there’s a large audience for what I do. In the later rounds, I was unsure that their biases would either serve in my favor or to my detriment. It was more that I didn’t want to subject myself to the critique of another artist. Could you speak about your transition process from being a bilingual teacher into a contestant on the show?Īs a teacher, you’re performing every single day, right? Your students are your harshest critics, so performing wasn’t nerve-wracking for me. In a Time interview, you stated Rhythm + Flow’s authenticity around cyphers and battles undid your skepticism. I took a third person approach to tell these stories some bright, some dark, but they really capture what’s going on in the city. I thought it was only right to start with this project first some of the songs are about my experience, while others are about trends or stories that I often heard growing up in Inglewood. There are so many youngsters that I had the privilege of teaching that still walk those hallways and are walking the same path I did. It’s an important project for me because Inglewood High School holds stories for me as a student and teacher. In the midst of press runs, D Smoke opened up about his experience on Rhythm + Flow, his Inglewood High EP, and his next steps as an independent artist.ĭ Smoke: Inglewood High is an EP about my experience coming up on Inglewood, going to Inglewood High, and teaching at the high school after I graduated from UCLA. He’s won an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award with his older brother, Sir Darryl Farris aka SiR, for “Never,” a Billboard-charting song from Jaheim in 2007, and received songwriting credits for Ginuwine and The Pussy Cat Dolls projects.Īs the show’s first winner, there’s an added level of pressure for the rapper who has completed three music videos and started work on a 15-track mixtape since the show’s release. Demographics reflected in his students as a bilingual and music teacher at Inglewood High where he invests in the next generation of leaders. Inspired by his childhood friends in Inglewood’s Latinx community, Smoke found music as unifier and way to remove barriers between Latinx and Black communities in his hometown. ![]() His musical confidence was displayed on the three-week series as he incorporated Spanish and live instrumentation to uplift the community-centered messaging embedded within his raps.
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