Inglewood native Daniel Farris, commonly known as rapper ‘D Smoke’, had one hell of a year with his seemingly-overnight success. When looking at his background, it is not much of a surprise that he became this successful, it was only a matter of time. His family is full of talented gospel singers in the Inglewood area and his younger brother, R&B singer SiR, is signed to Top Dawg Entertainment. D Smoke has been working hard on his craft for a long time and that earned him his well-deserved spot on the popular new Netflix competition show Rhythm + Flow. He passed through all of the challenges on the show with flying colors and gave the audience absolutely stunning performances they will never forget. D Smoke went on to win the show and set the bar extremely high for all contestants to come.

D Smoke was very strategic when it came to the lead up and release to this album. Ahead of release he dropped two singles called “Fly” and “No Commas”, along with new music videos for each of them. After that, he went to social media to increase hype by revealing the release date and track list as while as posting pictures relating to the album. These tactics seemed to have paid off big time for him because Black Habits is doing numbers.

Black Habits, D Smoke’s first official studio album, dropped on February 7th, 2020. The album runs just over an hour long, at about 62 minutes, and was published by WoodWorks Records. Although D Smoke on his own is already incredible, Ari Lennox, Snoop Dogg, and more are featured on this album and are a lot of what brought this beautiful piece together.

Morning Prayer is the lead track for this project. It is mostly composed of a mother and her children going through a prayer before going to school, finishing with a couple of lines from D Smoke. These few lines hint at the upcoming topics he discusses later in the album, like racism and bullying.

Smoke takes a stand in the second song called “Bullies”, where he raps hard with a killer flow. This tough hook will give you a good idea of the tone in the track:

“So fuck y'all bullies We act like we ain't, but us all, bullies Never settlin' for subpar, bullies Don't make a nigga knock the rust off, bullies”

This song is a statement and it’s dope to see him start the album this way because it lets you know he’s not about to take bullshit from anyone.

The third track, “No Commas”, has got to be the hardest track on the album. D Smoke attacks bar after bar and snaps for two crazy verses. As if those verses weren’t great enough, he put the icing on the cake with the outro by bouncing back and forth between speaking English and Spanish. This skill really adds a third-dimension to the heavy-hitting cut.

Ever since the tracklist was released and I saw Snoop Dogg, my excitement for the album shot through the roof. The two California natives pay homage over a bass-heavy beat for the song titled “Gaspar Yanga”. D Smoke raps for most of it, leading up to Snoop’s fire chorus, giving the track a major west coast feel that is bound to have you bouncing in the whip.

On the fifth track of the album, “Top of the Morning”, D Smoke presents a great morning-time perspective and outlook on life. Smoke really takes a step back and reminds himself of how we should be attacking the day that lies ahead of us. This song will leave you two-stepping while grinding your daily hustle.

Sitting at number ten on the tracklist is “Fallin”, a song about Smoke’s relationship with a girl. He opens up about his feelings in such a real and honest way, and he crushes the analogies, blending the feelings and bars so fluidly. There are three clever verses on this track and D bodies every single one of them.

The east side and the west side come together to create a masterpiece in “Real Body”, the 12th track on Black Habits. D Smoke and the acclaimed Dreamville singer Ari Lennox go back to back singing sensual verses. It is a bit of a slower track, however, the arrangement of the drums add so much drive that you can’t help but rock your head and sing along.

D Smoke linked with his brother SiR, who is also an immensely talented singer/songwriter, to collaborate “Closer to God”. My favorite part of this song is the instrumentation. Going along with the idea of furthering their relationship with God, the two used pianos and a church organ to successfully create a very spiritual beat.

The final (and also my favorite) piece on the album is titled “Black Habits II”. The execution of this song is phenomenal. The message behind this song is super powerful, it has a flawless, jazzy beat, and the wordplay is extremely sharp. In every line throughout the intro, chorus, and first verse D Smoke uses the word black. Shining a light on his feelings toward racism, he cleverly adds this twist to make the lines hit so much harder.

Thanks to Rhythm + Flow, bilingual rapper D Smoke has finally started to receive the clout he deserves. He has done nothing but keep us constantly entertained and his new album Black Habits is a major turning point for his career. We should expect to see even more growth from the Inglewood rapper in future projects.

Favorite Tracks

Gasper Yanga (Ft. Snoop Dogg)

Fallin’

Black Habits II

Rating: 7.5

Listen to Black Habits here:

We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and our services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy.

Thanks for reading! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to get notified whenever we post: