D Smoke Talks Red Bull Rap IQ, New Music, And Album
Courtesy of Turner/Getty Images for Hidden Empire Film Group.
D Smoke has been heating up. And as 2023 continues, he's setting his intentions on staying mentally grounded, with the help of his tribe—just as he's always done.
"That's how we're built, but it's always been a team sport too," Smoke tells In Search Of over zoom. "Like me, my brother SiR, my brother Davion, my cousin Tiffany, and now my nephew Rick and my assistant Dreads is like, we've always been a part of a team of people doing it because that's the nature of the grind, and that's how we always approached it.
"So we had fun along the way, and we had a lot of success prior to fame. That's a part of the story that a lot of people don't know about. There is success in prior to being famous. If you can make that your goal, then you can navigate your way to the next level, whatever that means for you. For everybody, that's different."
And, for the Inglewood artist, unapologetically diving deeper into his vast artistry is a part of his next level. Smoke, né Daniel Anthony Farris, has stayed busy flexing his lyrical ability on tracks with SHERIE ("Candlelight"), xBValentine ("The Dream"), DJ Fricktion & Kelvyn Colt, and even an anthem for the LAFC titled "Do It for LA." Meanwhile, in the acting arena, Farris joined the Paramount+ hit show, Mayor of Kingstown, where he plays Raphael, an inmate who, without giving too much away, plays an integral role in the show's plot. Yeah he's been heating up.
Just before the emcee could get too busy to chat with him, In Search Of Magazine chopped it up with D Smoke to discuss life, his time on Red Bull Rap IQ, his upcoming album, and a new track with his brother, SiR.
Editor’s Note: This interview took place before D Smoke & SiR released “Work Hard Play Hard.”
In Search Of Magazine: How did you fall in love with Hip-Hop?
D Smoke: I was 10 years old, and it wasn't the first time I had heard hip-hop, but the first time I would say I fell in love. My parents and all my brothers, including my oldest brother, Ron Ron, who was my dad's son, we lived in a three room house and it was six of us.
The front bedroom was my older brother's. At this time, this is still in the '90s, so he had a box of cassette tapes. In that box he had cassette tapes and weed and a gang of girls' numbers on pieces of paper. But he would pull out, he had ATLiens on cassette.
He pressed play on OutKast’s ATLiens and was breaking down the lyrics for me because, of course, at 10 years old, there's so much you don't understand. So when he broke down [Outkast's "Millennium"] and so many others, I was like, "All right, it's something special about this," 'cause it's always somebody that helps you appreciate art.
ISO: And for some of these people, it might be watching an episode of Red Bull's Rap IQ. Tell me about your latest experience on that show.
Red Bull has always been supportive of what I'm doing. One of my early releases in, I believe, 2020 or something, Red Bull provided the sound system. So we've just always had that relationship, but to pull up and just hang out with Buddy, who's my homie, my young homie, we just had a good time. I think many people are used to me being in teacher mode or conscious rapper mode (laughs), they don't know that to be calculated or eloquent or intellectual, you got to let out the other side, that fun side of you somewhere, so we chose to let that show this time around. But, we had a good time, me and Weezy TF— she was my teammate. She saved me most of the time to keep it a buck (laughs).
ISO: That Black boy joy is dope (laughs); it was great to see y'all goof off. It's always cool to see our entertainers humanized. But how did she save you?
She saved me because [regarding music] I like what I like, and it's not to diss nobody, but if it's not my cup of tea, I'm not going to listen to it—especially if it doesn't fall within a certain genre, to keep it a buck.
I'm not just going to listen because it's popular. I can't. If I don't resonate with it...I don't need to know it just because the whole crowd knows it. I'll be him, I'll be that guy (laughs). I'll be the one that's like, 'Yeah, I ain't heard of them.' They be like, 'How you rap and you ain't ... ?' But she knew that and saved me in that game, 'cause otherwise we would have just lost. Shoutout Weezy TF.
ISO: Well, here at In Search Of we are literally always searching for music—new and old—to discuss. So what music are you really into these days, what you got in rotation?
Thats ill! Right now, Moonchild just dropped a song that's really dope. Divine is incredible. I think 'cause I like music that puts me in a certain mood, so...I forget what [the song] is called. But everything they do has such a beautiful sound. So that's one that I have in rotation right now.
I always go back, I always go back and listen to some things so that I can have a perspective outside of what everybody's doing. Stevie Wonder is my favorite, of course.
ISO: Yo, mine too! He's timeless.
Timeless, dawg. I take every opportunity to put people up on Songs in the Key of Life or put people on Innervisions or "Living for the City."
And I love his music and music like it because I believe music can be so much more. Being in the classroom and being a teacher at one point—I know what kind of brilliance exists in people, in Black people, in young people, in Latinos and white, Asian, everybody. We're created by God, so it's genius in everybody. So in listening to music, I challenge music to be better and higher.
I hear that. Now you're stepping out of your music comfort zone doing things Red Bull, and as you get bigger, you don't have to play it by mainstream rules or anything like that. Which allows you to be a multi-hyphenate, talk to me about your appearance on Paramount+'s Mayor of Kingstown.
Yeah, yeah, so I'm on episodes 3 through 10 with the exception of nine. So Raphael, my character, is in jail. I'm imprisoned along with my cousin Bunny, who's one of the leads. Bunny is the leader in the streets, and they put him in jail to bring order to jail after a riot broke out and 100 guards got killed, and a gang of prisoners got killed.
So when Bunny comes in, he only wants to be there for a short amount of time. while in jail his objective is to establish order and leave the prison leadership to me. Before season 2 ends, he does exactly that. They created some beautiful moments where I could flex artistically from within that show and character but also just push the envelope, like, I do my own stunts. I had three different fighting scenes and-
Courtesy of Livingston/Getty Images
Oh, you did your own stunts?! You was Tom Cruise out there, bro! (laughs)
I was Tom Cruising (laughs). We had a stunt man so that from the wide shots, I didn't have to be exhausting myself, but when it came down to doing the stunt for my closeup, it's me.
Do you have to operate on a different wavelength creatively than you do, from being a musician to stepping in those shoes as an actor?
It's for sure a different side of your brain. It's a different place you're coming from. Musically you like, 'All right, what do I want to say to the world? And let me have fun while I'm doing that and make it dope while I'm doing that.' Acting is like, 'Who is this character and how do I tap into this person and what voice can I fill in their story so that when I go into character, I'm not just going into these lines, I'm going into everything that's ever happened before and everything I'm afraid of what I want out of life?'
When I say, 'I,' I'm talking about that character. So it's a different art form altogether, but it's something that I've done, even when I was in high school I acted too. So it's not new, it's just recurring. But yeah you have to operate with a different side of your brain, get into a different mode for acting compared to making music.
With Raphael and me particularly, I had to explore the questions, 'What have I done? Why am I in jail?' You know what I'm saying? And not answer it too specifically to where it gives itself away, but enough to where you see eyes that I've seen something that I might not necessarily be proud of, but I have to move forward, I have to carry with me regardless of what's in front of me.
So shifting gears a bit to talk about your music, your last project, I believe, was 2021's War & Wonders. I know recently you just dropped “Power” with DJ Fricktion and Kelvyn. But what's next for you musically? When can we expect to see you drop your next project?
Absolutely. The single was a collaborative piece with Kelvyn, DJ Fricktion, and myself. But I wouldn't connect that necessarily to the project that's about to come. My brother SiR and I're about to drop a track in June.
Me and SiR have a song that we're going to release and it's dope as sh*t. I love it. I love this song. I don't want to say what it's called just yet 'cause I don't know when this interview coming out. You know what I'm saying? (Laughs). But that's something to look forward to in June and it's one of them summer joints—a jam, you could play in your car or on a boat; it's that kind of vibe.
So that song will be the start of the rollout, and people will see these moments happen. I got some cool features that we look forward to sharing with the world, and we going from there.
What is the overall vibe of this next project? Is it going to stay along the mentioned summery vibes, or is it going to be something more akin to War & Wonders?
I wouldn't say War & Wonders and the ‘Work Hard—Ooh, I almost said it the title of the song with my brother (laughs). The song me and SiR got dropping is a standout in terms of what it is, so the project is still going to be it ... the project is similar to War & Wonders in that it's a journey, but it doesn't sound anything like [that project]. It's like this is West Coast, put it in your car music. You know what I'm saying? It's bassy, it's musical...the verses on they’re crazy.
Are there any key producers you're contacting or instrumentalists or vocalists you worked on during the making of this project?
Well, I produced a lot on there. I produced a lot on this one—I produced some bangers on this. Usually, when I produce for myself, it's more so from a composition-musical standpoint. But to go in and make beats is something that's like, 'All right, let me flex that real quick.'
But of course, I also got my boy D.K. the Punisher who did "Bullies" and so much of the other projects. I got DJ Battlecat on there again just to make sure we stand true to our roots and West Coast. Then in terms of voices, I got my family on there and the voices again, so when you hear harmonies and stuff, you going to hear Davion. You going to hear SiR. You going to hear myself, my cousins, Tiffany Gouché, Courtney Gouché just adding textures to it.
So it's going to sound beautiful, is what you're saying.
Beautiful, for sure. There's live instrumentation; I'm playing bass on there, I'm playing guitar on there, playing keys on there. So it's one of those, but a lot of voices. It's beautiful.
