Damon Smith, (born February 8, 1975) known by his stage name Smoothe Da Hustler, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He released his debut LP ''

Once Upon a Time in America ''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture prod ...

'' on

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label ...

in 1996. He runs an entertainment company, SMG Entertainment, which includes the record label SMG Records.

Profile records

"Broken Language"

Smoothe Da Hustler's musical career began when he joined fellow

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

rapper The Notorious B.I.G. on his 1994 '' Ready to Die'' promotional tour. The following year, Smoothe Da Hustler teamed up with producer D/R Period to release “Broken Language” independently in his hometown of Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY. The track was a 'Hip Hop Quotable' in the November 1995 issue of ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the maga ...

'' and led to a record deal with

''Once Upon A Time In America''

re-released “Broken Language” on Smoothe Da Hustler's 1996 debut album ''

''. The album peaked at #11 and spent four weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album's two singles, “Broken Language/Hustlin’” and “Hustler’s Theme” spent 24 weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums charts. ''Billboard'' described Smoothe Da Hustler as possessing

"a head-spinning, locomotive flow that sounded like nothing else."

Def Jam Recordings

Off the momentum of ''

'', Smoothe Da Hustler was recruited by

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

and wrote for variety of gold- and platinum- certified recording artists, including writing with Rhymefest for Dr. Dre’s legendary unfinished album, ''Detox''.

Soundtracks

With

, Smoothe Da Hustler wrote and recorded "My Crew Can't Go For That" for ''The Nutty Professor'' soundtrack, and "Game Face" for

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

's ''He Got Game'' album, which became the featured soundtrack for

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

's film of the same name.

SMG Records

''Repossession: SMG''

In 2002, Smoothe Da Hustler ended his record deals to create SMG Records in order to retain full authority over his music. SMG Records’ debut album, ''Repossession: SMG'' was a no-holes-barred performance by label-mates Ice-T,

Trigga tha Gambler Tywone Smith, professionally known by his stage name Trigger tha Gambler (or simply Trigga), is an American East Coast rapper. He is the younger brother of Damon Smith aka Smoothe da Hustler, and first became known for his "aggressive hardcore f ...

, Marc Live (

Analog Brothers Analog Brothers were an experimental hip hop band featuring Tracy "Ice-T" Marrow (Ice Oscillator) on keyboards, drums and vocals, Keith "Kool Keith" Thornton (Keith Korg) on bass, strings and vocals, Marc Live (Marc Moog) on drums, violins and ...

), and Deuce Fever. Due to high demand, ''Repossession: SMG'' turned into a U.S. tour. The tour was recorded for the follow-up live performance DVD, released in conjunction with

Penalty Recordings Penalty is an American record label and entertainment company, founded and run by CEO Neil Levine. The company was founded in 1995 as a record label specializing in hip-hop music. The original Penalty label was acquired by its distributor, Tomm ...

''Violenttimes Day''

On Valentine's Day 2008, Smoothe Da Hustler released a highly anticipated solo album ''Violenttimes Day'', which included only two featured artists-

and DV Alias Kryst- his long-time writing and recording partners. The 16-track album was received enthusiastically by fans worldwide, leading him to release the follow-up album, ''Violenttimes Day 2,'' with SMG Records on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

2012. Due to high-demand, physical copies of the album are no longer available, but ''Violenttimes Day 2'' will be re-released digitally in 2016 with additional tracks not featured on the original pressing.

''Dem Brooklyn Boys''

Smoothe Da Hustler is currently writing and producing the soundtrack for ''Dem Brooklyn Boys'', which will be released through SMG Records in conjunction with the film in 2017.

Notable performances

Smoothe Da Hustler has performed alongside Ice-T,

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

, The Notorious B.I.G.,

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

, Capone-N-Noreaga, The Lox,

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

Jeru the Damaja Kendrick Jeru Davis (born February 14, 1972), known as Jeru the Damaja, is an American rapper and record producer. He is known for his 1993 single " Come Clean" from his debut album, '' The Sun Rises in the East'', ranked as one of the 100 grea ...

, SWV,

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

, and

Special Ed Edward K. Archer (born May 16, 1972), known professionally as Special Ed, is an American rapper and producer. Ed is perhaps best known for the songs "I Got It Made", "Think About It" and "I'm the Magnificent" from his debut album '' Youngest in ...

, to name a few. Special notable performances include

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...

's 50th Anniversary

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

Celebration at the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nickname ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, which saw 1.25 million people in attendance, the 2002

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

, which saw 700,000 people in audience, as well as Hot 97's Summer Jam and the

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Summerstage The City Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The organization works in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sport ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Cultural influence

Television

Broken Language was used by

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on ''The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' Hom ...

(

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...

), Ed Burns (

), and David Mills ( NYPD Blue, E.R.) for their HBO miniseries The Corner in 2000.

Fine arts

In 2013, José Parlá staged a critically acclaimed art exhibition entitled "Broken Language" at

Haunch of Venison Haunch of Venison was a contemporary art gallery operating from 2002 until 2013. It supported the work of contemporary leading artists, presented a broad and critically acclaimed program of exhibitions to a large public through international exhi ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. He cited Smoothe Da Hustler's "Broken Language" cadence and writing style as the sonic inspiration for his visual art form. "Broken Language" became the title painting, and ultimately, the name of the exhibition and accompanying epitaph. In an interview with

Paddle8 Paddle8 was an online auction house based in New York City selling fine art including Post-War and Contemporary art, prints & multiples, photography, street art and collectibles. Paddle8's sales focus on pieces priced between $1,000 and $100,000, ...

, Parlá stated:

"The idea of 'Broken Language' as a title for my 2013 exhibition at Haunch of Venison, the gallery's last show as a primary gallery, comes from the song of the same title from 1995 by Smoothe Da Hustler from Brooklyn. His cadence and delivery of rhymes made me think of language made up of styles defined by ethnic backgrounds. For example, English with a Spanish accent, or Jamaican Patois or Creole and so forth. I want to imagine works that visually connect the sound and cadence of language transformed by gesture and surface."

Discography

References

External links

Smoothe Da Hustler at Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smoothe Da Hustler 1975 births Living people Gangsta rappers Rappers from Brooklyn Profile Records artists 21st-century American rappers