''blkswn'' (pronounced "black swan") is the debut studio album by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Smino Christopher Smith Jr. (born October 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Smino, is an American rapper and singer. He is the founder of the musical collective Zero Fatigue with Bari, Monte Booker, Jay2, and Ravyn Lenae. He is one third of ...

. It was released on March 14, 2017 with

Zero Fatigue Zero Fatigue is an American musical collective and independent record label with a split-base in both St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois. The collective was founded by Smino and includes artists and producers Monte Booker, Ravyn Lenae, Ja ...

under license to

Downtown Records Downtown Records is an American record label based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles. Owned and operated by Josh Deutsch and Terence Lam, the label is distributed by Interscope Capitol Labels Group (formerly Geffen Records, Interscope ...

. The album includes guest appearances from

Ravyn Lenae Ravyn Lenae Washington (born January 22, 1999) is an American R&B singer-songwriter from Chicago who is currently signed to Atlantic Records and the Three Twenty Three Music Group. She is also a member of the musical collective Zero Fatigue. H ...

, Bari, , Jay2, Via Rosa, Drea Smith, Akenya,

Jean Deaux Zoi Harris (born May 4, 1995), better known by her stage name Jean Deaux () is an American musician. She is known for her involvement in multiple genres and creative mediums. Her debut EP ''Krash'' was released in October 19, 2018. Career Deaux ...

, and Noname, with production from

Monte Booker Ahmanti Booker (born March 27, 1995), professionally known as Monte Booker is an American record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He is part of the musical collective Zero Fatigue, and has worked with artists such as Smino, Ravyn Lenae, Noname, ...

, THEMpeople, Sango, Phoelix, and J. Bird. The album artwork was created by Victor Birriel and taken by

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

native, Taylor Madison, photographer behind Diary of Disposables.

Background

The release date holds a special significance to the

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

rapper because 314 is the area code of his hometown.

Release and promotion

Singles

On December 2, 2016, Smino announced the title of the album and released "blkswn" as the first single. On February 8, 2017, the second single, "Anita" was released. He released "Blkoscars" on February 24, and "Father Son, Holy Smoke" on March 10 as promotional singles. On July 26, the music video for "Netflix & Dusse" was released. On March 26, 2018, Smino released the album's final single and music video for "Wild Irish Roses".

Tours

Following the album's release, Smino headlined in his month-long Swanita Tour, which included 22 dates with guests Monte Booker, Jay2, Bari, and Jean Deaux. Smino and Ravyn Lenae also opened for

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

on the CTRL Tour. During October, he was opening act for

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

on his Acoustic Tour, who later appeared on the remix for "Anita" on October 27.

Critical reception

Upon its release, album received critical acclaim and positive reviews. Kelsee Thomas of ''Earmilk'' said "Smino is letting us know in ''blkswn'' that he's aware of the change and of the fact that he needs to pay attention to keeping his vices under control now more than ever. He asked for this blessing and now he's asking for help while his blessings." Scott Glaysher of Exclaim said "Any time an artist can blend genres together in a way that doesn't seem forced or stolen, it definitely makes for an eye-opening listen." On March 17, 2017,

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

named Smino "New Artist of the Week".

Accolades

Track listing

Notes * "Amphetamine" contains a hidden track titled "Krash Kourse" featuring Bari, Jean Deaux, and Noname, produced by Monte Booker, Phoelix and J.Robb

Personnel

* Smino – vocals * Monte Booker – production * Ravyn Lenae – vocals * Bari – vocals * theMIND – vocals * Jay2 – vocals * Via Rosa – vocals * Drea Smith – vocals * Akenya – vocals * THEMpeople – production * Sango – production * Phoelix – production * J. Bird – production * J.Robb – production * Noname – additional vocals * Jean Deaux – additional vocals * Julian Bell – additional background vocals, instrumentation * Michael E. Neil – additional background vocals, instrumentation * Erik Hunter – additional background vocals, instrumentation * Victor Birriel – artwork * Taylor Madison – artwork * Elton "L10MixedIt" Chueng – engineering, mixing, mastering

References

{{Authority control 2017 debut albums Smino albums