Davood Ali Asgari, better known by his stage name Locksmith, (born September 29, 1984), is an American rapper from

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

. He is half of the former underground duo

The Frontline The Frontline were an American rap duo from Richmond, California, which consisted of Left and Locksmith, also known as Lock.Hildebrand, Lee (2005)RICHMOND VIOLENCE FUELS HIP-HOP DUO, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 26, 2005, retrieved 2010- ...

, which pioneered the "New Bay" resurgence movement in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

in the 2000s.

Background

Locksmith was born and raised in

in the neighborhood of Crescent Park. His father is Persian, who had immigrated from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and his mother was

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

from

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 ...

, originally from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. For the greater part of his childhood, he was raised predominantly by his mother's side of his family as his father was the only one from his Iranian side, until he had gotten older when other paternal family-members also arrived. He has four older

half-sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the other person. A male sibling is a brother, and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised ...

s from his mother's previous marriage. Between the 80s and 90s, his sister, who is a decade his senior, rapped as MC Spice and had opened up for the likes of

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...

Blackalicious Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...

and

Digital Underground Digital Underground is an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Its lineup grows with each album and tour. Digital Underground's leader and mainstay was Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs (also known as Humpty Hump). Shock G forme ...

. In 2010, his mother died. Locksmith went to De Anza High School in Richmond, and attended

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he graduated in

African American Studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

. He played basketball during his youth, through which he met his childhood friend Left. After graduating from school, the pair worked as mentors at the West Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau where they mentored teenagers and adolescents. He worked there, part-time, for a decade before moving on to concentrate on his solo music career.

Career

Battle rap

Locksmith first gained notoriety outside of the

as a battle rapper. In 2003, after beating the likes of Mistah FAB and A-Wolf on radio station 106.1 KMEL, he qualified for and became a contender on MTV's ''MC Battle'' joining a pool of 32 contenders, judged by

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. Locksmith was the only contender from the West Coast. The event was the first-ever televised battle rap tournament. Locksmith then made it to the "elite eight" live telecast on May 17, judged by

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

and

Kevin Liles Kevin Liles (born February 27, 1968) is an American record executive who is the co-founder and CEO of 300 Entertainment. In 2020, Kevin was recognized by Billboard Magazine as R&B/Hip-Hop Executive of the Year for both his efforts in activism ...

. Despite his strong performance, he finished as the

runner-up {{Short pages monitor