The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. From 7, followers to 1. His love for his family and his neighborhood won the hearts of viewers all around the world. With a background in teaching and education, Smoke now uses music as a means to continue his educational endeavors — without being too preachy.
Through his lyrics, he recounts his upbringing as a young black man in Inglewood in a way we all can relate to. The subject? It was at UCLA when he transitioned from Business Economics major to Spanish, the latter of which he excelled in and found the most useful.
Read below! It was two different sides of the same coin. You have all the love and nurturing in the world, in the household, the musical family. But, pops was locked up. When you stepped outside, you were subject to the elements, whether that be gang-banging, etc. Our parents never hid their history of addiction to drugs with us. By the time we could remember, they had just recently kicked the habit. But, they never hid that from us, so we were exposed to that.
Again, it was a whole lot of love. A very Christian family, mom and pops were both ministers. Of course, older brother banged. Cousins were gang members. It was this dichotomy where you got all this hood influence with all this love and artistry all wrapped together. Talk about growing up in musically inclined family and playing the piano on top of rapping.
My musical IQ is high because of gospel music, because of my association with the church and that being a place where I can learn and practice. But, the faith too withstands the things we went through in our career and in our personal lives.
