Listen to Smino’s Debut Album ‘blkswn’
Smino has never been shy about putting on for St. Louis.
“At the end of the day, I’m just trying to make some shit for the home town,” he told us back in 2015 before releasing his blkjuptr EP. Now, finally putting his debut album blkswn out in the world, he’s chosen to skip the usual Friday release date and share it on a day that holds special significance for his city.
“March 14 is my hometown holiday,” Smino says of the date (which reflects the city’s 314 area code). “St. Louis sounds like midnight at the River Front at all times to me. It’s slowed down but turned up. People here speak from the heart, even our trap rappers speak that blues.”
Sticking with what’s been working so well over the last couple years, the album’s sound is sculpted by Smino’s go-to producer Monte Booker who handles the production himself on all but two of the project’s 18 tracks. Letting us in on the project’s boundary-pushing sonic direction, engineer Elton “L10MixedIt” Chueng says, “The album sounds like ’01, but 3001 though.”
Listen on Spotify and Apple Music below.
