D Smoke, best known for winning Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow competition, has announced that he’ll be making history when he receives the key to the City of Inglewood this weekend.
In a statement released to 2 Urban Girlz on Thursday (June 15), the Inglewood native revealed that he’ll be the second person in history to receive a key to the city during their Juneteenth celebrations on Sunday (June 18).
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“I couldn’t be more honored to be the second person in history to be awarded the key to the city of Inglewood,” he said. “To see the changes its incurred and to know that Black businesses still thrive and we’re a part of its growth makes me proud!”
D Smoke (real name Daniel Anthony Farris) is also the first rapper to receive a key to the city. The first person to ever receive a key to Inglewood was Insecure star Issa Rae, who received it from then-Mayor Tyra Banks, according to PEOPLE.
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Back in 2020, D Smoke spoke to HipHopDX about his unique style, especially since he’s one of the only non-Latino rappers to rap both in English and in Spanish — and do it so fluently.
“I think a lot of people rhyme in Spanish because they’re influenced by other Spanish music,” he said. “It’s not the cause with me. I’m still diving into Spanish artists and getting exposed to them. There’s a lot of dope stuff out there. What’s primarily influenced my approach to music is literature. A lot of times in Spanish, I’ll tell stories from my perspective without being aware of the trends in Spanish music.”
He continued: “That’s why people get a lot of the rhyme patterns that primarily come from West Coast Hip Hop. You’re getting my story in Spanish versus without sounding like what’s out. It’s not my first language so much respect to the Latin music that’s happened already and one of those groups that inspired me like this Afro Latinx group from the Bay Area, Los Rakas, who are super dope. They’ve been doing the bilingual thing in both English and Spanish. Their roots are in Panama and Oakland.”
D Smoke also mentioned that he was a fan of a then-up-and-comer named J Balvin, remarking: “He’s super dope. I really look forward to having my own lane in Latin music. A lot of dope Latin artists out here. I love how those artists walk the line between saying something and being popular and entertaining at the same time. That’s the type of trend that I want to uphold with music. There’s so much dope Latin music out there.”
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Another rapper who was recently awarded a key to his city is Kevin Gates. In April, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana rapper took to Instagram to share a video of him being surprised with the honor during his performance at the Raising Canes River Center Arena in his hometown.
