Che Armond Smith (born July 6, 1977), known professionally as Rhymefest, is an American rapper and songwriter 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 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He is best known for his work with fellow Chicago rapper

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 ...

, with writing credits on his songs including "

Jesus Walks "Jesus Walks" is a song by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on May 25, 2004, as the fourth single from his debut album ''The College Dropout'' (2004). The song contains a sample of "Walk with Me" as performed by the ARC Choir. "Jesus ...

" (which won Best Rap Song) in 2004 and " New Slaves" in 2013. He also co-wrote " Glory", for

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

and

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

in 2014, which received a

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

and an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

. As a recording artist, he signed to

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

's Allido Records, an imprint of

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG's record labels in late 2008 at the end of their merger. It was distribut ...

in 2006, where he released his debut album ''

Blue Collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...

'' in July of that year.

Career

Che Armond Smith was born on July 6, 1977 in

Chicago, Illinois 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 ...

. Rhymefest started off

battle rap Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults, wordplay and Diss (music), disses originating in the African Americans, African-Amer ...

ping at events such as JumpOff and ScribbleJam against acts like

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

and Chalk. Smith co-wrote " Glory" alongside

and

, for the 2014 motion picture '' Selma''. The song received the 2014

and the 2014

. Che has expanded his gifts beyond the borders of music. The subject of the Showtime and Break Thru Films documentary, "In My Father's House", Rhymefest purchased the childhood home of his estranged father only to find that he'd been homeless for most of Che's life, Rhymefest then embarks on a journey to reconnect and redeem their relationship. Rhymefest's film debut was in

Emilio Estevez Emilio Estevez (; born May 12, 1962) is an American actor and filmmaker. The son of actor Martin Sheen and the older brother of Charlie Sheen, he made his film debut with an uncredited role in '' Badlands'' (1973). He later received his first ...

's 2018 film ''The Public''. He played "Big George", starring alongside Alec Baldwin, Gabrielle Union, Taylor Shilling, Michael K. Williams, Christian Slater, and more. Rhymefest has revealed that he will be releasing an album soon titled ''Love Lessons Pt. 1''. The track "OG Philosophy" featuring

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, actor and the lead Emcee (hip hop), MC of the hip hop group The Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove in Philadelphia. Regar ...

and Raheem DeVaughn arrived in early 2020.

Politics

In 2006, Smith was invited to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

to discuss hip-hop and policy with

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. In October 2010, Smith announced his candidacy for Chicago's 20th ward alderman. He placed second in the February 22, 2011 election, and was defeated by incumbent Willie Cochran in the April 5, 2011 runoff election, getting 45.4% of the vote to Cochran's 54.6%. In 2016, he hosted a "Truth & Reconciliation" event series to enhance awareness about gun violence in Chicago. He ran for an elected position as a member of the Chicago school board in the inaugural 2024 election for the post, and won in the 10th district, which is located on Chicago's south side.

Art of Culture (formerly Donda's House)

Rhymefest is Executive Director and co-Founder of Art of Culture (formerly Donda's House), Inc. The organization was originally named after

's mother Donda West. Artists who were accepted into Donda's House include Hex Hectic.

Personal life

Rhymefest is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. He has three children and has been married to Donnie Smith since 2010.

Che Guevara namesake

Che Smith, named for the

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

revolutionary

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

, addressed the matter, stating:

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

, - , rowspan="2",

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, rowspan="2", ''

'' (as songwriter) , Song of the Year , , - , , Best Rap Song , , - , ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, " New Slaves" (as songwriter) , , Best Rap Song , , - , rowspan="2",

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, rowspan="2", '' Glory'' (as songwriter) , , Best Rap Song , , - , Best Song Written for Visual Media ,

Discography

Albums

* 2006: ''

'' * 2010: '' El Che'' * 2024: ''James & Nikki: A Conversation''

Singles

* 1996: "This Is How We Chill (Pts. 1 & 2)" * 2005: "Dirty Dirty" (Featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard) * 2006: " Brand New" (featuring

) #38 Ireland, #32 UK * 2006: "Dynomite (Going Postal)" * 2006: "Fever" * 2006: "Wanted" * 2007: "Angry Black Man on the Elevator" (featuring

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

) * 2009: "Chicago" * 2024: "Creator" (featuring Brittney Carter and Rell Suma) * 2024: "Pop" (featuring EP Da Hellcat)

Mixtapes

* 2004: ''Brand New'' * 2005: ''A Star Is Born, Vol. 1'' * 2006: ''Plugg City: City on My Back'' * 2008: ''Mark Ronson Presents: Man in the Mirror'' * 2009: ''El Che: The Manual Mixtape'' * 2010: ''Dangerous: 5-18'' * 2010: ''Man in the Mirror 2.0''

References

External links

Rhymefest's official site
*

by Craig Lindsey
Rhymefest: Hip-Hop Is Scared of Revolution?
– interview by Ismael AbduSalaam
Interview on The World Music Foundation Podcast
{{Authority control 1977 births African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers African-American Muslims Allido Records artists Columbia College Chicago alumni Grammy Award winners for rap music Living people Rappers from Chicago 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians Muslims from Illinois