''Rolling Stoned'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American rapper

Smoke DZA Sean 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 ...

. The album was released on August 30, 2011, by iH2D and

iHipHop Distribution iHipHop Distribution was founded in 2009 in an attempt to provide artists and record labels with a new paradigm for distributing their music and building their brand. iHipHop Distribution has worked successfully with many artists and continues i ...

. The album features guest appearances from

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with ...

Big K.R.I.T. Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he started his musical career in 2005. Af ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

, Fiend, Den10,

Dom Kennedy Dominic Ross Hunn (born August 22, 1984), better known by his stage name Dom Kennedy, is an American rapper from Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. Since 2008, Kennedy has released 5 independent mixtapes, most notably his 2010 critically accl ...

, Trademark da Skydiver,

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. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...

, Big Sant and

Currensy Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (often stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. In 2011, he founded the label Jet Life Recordings. Music career 2002–2008: No Limit and Young Money ...

Background

In August 2011, in an interview with Raw Roots,

spoke about what to expect from the album, saying: "You can expect the same thing. You can expect stellar production. A lot of anthems. In this particular album, I got a lot of features. Usually, I tend to dibble and dabble with features with the people I like. It’s people I listen to that I have genuine interest in. I don’t just do songs with just anyone unless it’s business but for my own purposes I always wanna do music with people that I can really have respect for. I got a lot of good features on this project, good production, good topics and a lotta anthems. I got a lot of stories to tell too so, it’ll be real cool."

Critical reception

''Rolling Stoned'' was met with generally positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. The Company Man of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Smoke DZA has always played a suitable Robin and, on ''Rolling Stoned'', he’s still a ways away from driving the Bat Mobile. Maybe that’s why there’s twelve guest appearances on a thirteen track album. Maybe he feels he resonates more in limited doses. With only four solo joints, it’s difficult to get a feel for the artist. Instead, he flaunts the caricature while the person behind "The Kushed God" is still hidden in a cloud of smoke." Neil Martinez-Belkin of '' XXL'' gave the album an L, saying "At times, the Cinematic spitter’s delivery reminds of the flamboyant slick type of flow that has defined Harlem rappers, and over the laidback buoyant production, it’s a unique sound. But with the subject matter so limited, George Kush sometimes sells himself short. But ''Rolling Stoned'' results in a fun listen, however predictable it may be. While there’s room for growth, Smoke DZA has put together another solid project that’s sure to keep his growing group of Dziples asking for more. Rrrright."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2011 debut albums Smoke DZA albums Albums produced by Big K.R.I.T. Albums produced by Cardo