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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Howard chapter.

I am a music lover and I couldn’t go a day without listening to my favs. About a year ago, I was listening to Jean Deaux’s song, “XYZ”. Of course, she was smooth with the vocals and rap. But, what really stood out was the man she had featured on the song. That man was Smino Brown. 

The Saint Louis MC’s name is a play on the character from New Jack City, Nino Brown. It comes to no surprise that he is a murderous maniac on the mic. According to an April 2016 interview with XXL, Smino said, “I say my sound is more futuristic funk, rap funk. If people or if I would compare my sound to any art that has came out before, I would Dungeon Family-esque. But now a days if they were inspired by the shit that is coming out now; soulful rappy shit.” 

This was the year of Blkswn. It was released on March 14, 2017. The date was chosen to mirror his area code of Saint Louis. To promote his album, he released four singles – “blkswn,” the Hidden Figures-inspired “Anita”, the #OscarsSoWhite inspired “Blkoscars” and “Father Son Holy Smoke.” This features contributions from artists such as theMIND, Rayvn Lenae, Akenya, Jean Deaux, and Noname. Production was done by Monte Booker with help from Phoelix, THEMPeople and Sango. 

After “S!Ck S!Ck S!Ck” and “blkjuptr”, he really grabbed my attention with this album. The power of women is displayed through this album and I’m here for it. 

To sum it up, PUT SMINO ON YOUR PLAYLIST!!!!! 

These are my ultimate faves from Smino: Menu, Kompany, Lemon Pon Goose, Glass Flows, Netflix and Dusse, and so much more… 

 

My name is Samaria Colbert. I am a 4th year Computer Science major and Graphic Design minor from Cincinnati, Ohio. I attend Howard University and will be writing for my school chapter. With my major, I intend to go into UX and UI design.  I want to open my own graphic design business and create more jobs for black women in my field. I want to be my own boss.
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Deni Dedmon is a sophomore speech-language pathology major from Albany, GA. Her first love was writing but her second love was helping others, which led to her choosing a career in speech pathology. When it comes to her writing, she loves to write about everything, from entertainment (she’s an avid Kehlani fan) to book reviews (she’s been reading since the age of one) to controversial topics and current events (ya know, your average angry black girl things). Being the oldest of five girls, she is also passionate about young black girls, their self-esteem, and making sure that they’re proud of being who they are. At the age of seventeen, she became a contributor for MTV Founders and a spring writer for Affinity Magazine.