Floyd Harrison, better known as Sylk Smoov, is an American rapper from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Biography

Harrison was born in north St. Louis. In 1991, performing as Sylk Smoov, he signed a deal with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, making him the first rapper from St. Louis to sign with a major record label. His debut album, also called ''Sylk Smoov'', was released on

PWL America Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL (Pete Waterman Limited), is most famous for being the home of hit record prod ...

in 1991. Two singles were released from the album: "Klientele" and "Trick Wit a Good Rap". These peaked at #27 and #14 on ''

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 ...

''s

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart, respectively. He subsequently contributed the song "Drop Down" to the soundtrack of the 1994 movie ''

House Party 3 ''House Party 3'' is a 1994 American comedy film, starring Kid 'n Play, Bernie Mac, and TLC. It is the third installment of the ''House Party'' film series. This was intended to be the last film in the franchise, ending it as a trilogy, but a sta ...

''. Having traveled to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

to make his debut album, he subsequently returned to St. Louis to work in the

construction industry Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

prior to the release of his second album, ''Cat Action 25-8'', in 2004. The same year, he also performed at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

in Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, where he opened for

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

Critical response

''Sylk Smoov'' was reviewed favorably in ''

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 ...

'', which gave it a rating of 3 out of 5. The review stated that Smoov "...delivers hardcore lyrics in a smooth, mellow style that sounds like a cross between

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

MC Breed Eric Tyrone Breed (June 12, 1971 – November 22, 2008), better known as MC Breed, was an American rapper best known for his singles "Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'", which peaked at #66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and "Gotta Get Mine" (featu ...

and

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

was less favorable in his review of the album, which he gave a "neither" rating, corresponding to an album which, according to Christgau, "...may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."

Discography

*''Sylk Smoov'' (

, 1991) *''Cat Action 25-8'' (Cat Action Music, 2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylk Smoov Living people Musicians from St. Louis Rappers from Missouri Mercury Records artists Year of birth missing (living people)