Sean Joseph Pompey (born February 8, 1984), better known by his stage name Smoke DZA, is an American rapper and songwriter.

Biography

1984–2007: Early life and career beginnings

Smoke DZA was born February 8, 1984, at Harlem Hospital in New York City and has lived in New York all his life. The son of two Guyanese immigrants, Smoke was exposed to music at home by his father and fell in love with hip hop at a young age. He grew up listening to and emulating fellow New Yorkers

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

and

Notorious BIG Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

. After dropping out of high school to pursue his music career, DZA began

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 and has battled fellow Harlem-based rapper J.R. Writer. Smoke DZA decided on his moniker after being influenced by Chris Tucker's character Smokey from the movie ''

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...

'' and the acronym DZA stands for "Dream Zone Achieve". He was discovered by

Jonny Shipes Jonny Shipes is an American record executive. Credited with discovering Nipsey Hussle, Joey Bada$$, Sean Kingston, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, and Druski, he is the founder and CEO of GoodTalk, an independent record label and successor to Cinematic ...

of Cinematic Music Group in 2002 and went on to ghostwrite for numerous rappers, including

Hi-Tek Tony Louis Cottrell (born May 5, 1976), better known as Hi-Tek, is an American rapper and music producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, ...

. In 2002, he partnered to become one half of the group Smoke & Numbers, until going solo in 2008.

2008–2016: ''Rugby Thompson'', ''Dream.Zone.Achieve'' and ''Don't Smoke Rock''

Since splitting from Smoke & Numbers to pursue a solo career, DZA has released a string of mixtapes including Substance Abuse, Substance Abuse 1.5, George Kush The Button, Rolling Stoned, Sweet Baby Kushed God, Cuz I Felt Like It and K.O.N.Y. He has worked with

Big K.R.I.T. Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), known professionally as Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he began his musical career in 2005. He was sign ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

, and

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...

among others and is a founding member of the Smokers Club. His album, Rolling Stoned was awarded the High Times Doobie Award for Hip Hop album of the year for 2011. DZA latest album Rugby Thompson was released in June 2012 by High Times and Cinematic Music Group. The album was produced entirely by Harry Fraud. The album features numerous artists including

Action Bronson Ariyan Arslani (born December 2, 1983), professionally known as Action Bronson, is an American rapper and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, he released his debut mixtape ''Bon Appetit ..... Bitch!!!!!'' in January 2011 and indepe ...

Currensy Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, he signed with the local record labels Cash Money Records and Young Mo ...

Domo Genesis Dominique Marquis Cole (born March 9, 1991), known professionally as Domo Genesis, is an American rapper, DJ, and songwriter. He is best known for being a member of Los Angeles hip hop collective Odd Future. He has since continued his solo career ...

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

and

ASAP Twelvyy Jamel Da'Shawn Phillips (born May 30, 1989),https://www.instagram.com/p/BGCiV-ZhwX9/ known professionally as ASAP Twelvyy (stylized as A$AP Twelvyy), is an American rapper from Harlem, New York City. He is a member of the hip hop group ASAP Mob, ...

. On April 1, 2014, Smoke DZA released ''Dream.Zone.Achieve'', his third studio album. The album consisted of 21 songs broken down into three sections, Dream, Zone and Achieve, each with 7 tracks. Features included fellow Harlem native

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), known Mononym, mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early 1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance Rivera, Lance "Un" Rivera's Lance Rivera, Untertainment, a ...

, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul,

and

Curren$y Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, he signed with the local record labels Cash Money Records and Young Mo ...

. On April 6, 2014, in the midst of

WrestleMania XXX WrestleMania XXX was a 2014 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 30th annual WrestleMania and took place on April 6, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This ...

, Smoke DZA released a mixtape titled ''Ringside 2'', the second installment in his wrestling-inspired ''Ringside'' EP series. Production was handled his by fellow R.F.C. member 183rd, with features from Peter Rosenberg, then

WWE Intercontinental Champion The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promo ...

Big E Langston, Aston Matthews and

Flatbush Zombies Flatbush Zombies (stylized as Flatbush ZOMBiES) are an American hip hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott, with Elliot ...

. On December 2, 2016, he and Pete Rock released "Don't Smoke Rock", featuring 13 songs with guest appearances from

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

Dave East David Lawrence Brewster Jr. (born June 3, 1988), known professionally as Dave East, is an American rapper. East began his career in 2010, and gained attention in 2014 for his eighth mixtape, ''Black Rose''. Its release caught the attention of fe ...

and

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

. Smoke DZA released his eight album, ''Homegrown'', on October 2, 2020. It marks his fourth project of the year, following the acclaimed ''A Closed Mouth Don't Get Fed'', ''Ringside 8'' and ''The Smokers Club Presents: Smoke DZA's Worldwide Smoke Session'', the latter of which was released on April 20. ''Homegrown'' is an ode to his native New York City.

Musical style and influences

Smoke cites fellow New York natives

and Notorious B.I.G. as his main influences. As an adolescent he would use their songs and write his own lyrics, helping him learn rhyming patterns."I used to re-write Biggie. It started with ' Mo Money, Mo Problems.' I would switch up the words, make it my own." He has also cited fellow Harlem rappers like Mase, Big L and Dipset as influences and inspiration. Though he is often mistakenly classified as a weed rapper, Smoke considers himself a lifestyle rapper and prefers not to be confined to one genre of rap. DZA's albums and mixtapes often feature many collaborative tracks. DZA says he enjoys collaborating with fellow artists like Dom Kennedy and

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

as he feels it helps him "step his ball game up" in terms of his craft.

Personal life

DZA is a fan of

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

. In 2016, he endorsed

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

' presidential bid.

Discography

* '' Rolling Stoned'' (2011) * ''

Rugby Thompson ''Rugby Thompson'' is the second studio album by American rapper Smoke DZA. The album was released on June 19, 2012, by High Times Records and Cinematic Music Group. The album is entirely produced by Harry Fraud. The album features guest appear ...

'' (2012) * '' Dream. Zone. Achieve'' (2014) * ''He Has Risen'' (2016) * '' Don't Smoke Rock'' (2016) * ''Not for Sale'' (2018) * ''A Closed Mouth Don't Get Fed'' (2020) * ''Homegrown'' (2020) * ''

Full Court Press A full-court press is a basketball term for a defensive style in which the defense applies pressure to the offensive team the entire length of the court before and after the inbound pass. Pressure may be applied man-to-man, or via a zone press us ...

'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:DZA, Smoke 1984 births African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American people of Guyanese descent Cannabis music East Coast hip-hop musicians Living people People from Harlem Rappers from Manhattan Underground rappers African-American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians American male songwriters