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 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 rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

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 East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

. 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 and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...

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-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...

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

Jonny Shipes Jonny Shipes is an American music entrepreneur and producer. Credited with discovering Nipsey Hussle, Joey Bada$$, Sean Kingston, Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA. He is the founder and CEO of Cinematic Music Group, an independent record label, ar ...

of Cinematic Music Group in 2002 and went on to

ghostwrite A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

for numerous rappers, including

Hi-Tek Tony Cottrell, better known as Hi-Tek (born May 5, 1976), is an American rapper and record 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, whom H ...

. 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), 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 ...

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. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

, and

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 ...

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, songwriter, chef, wrestler, exotic olive oil taster, and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he embarked on his musical ...

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 Mone ...

Domo Genesis Dominique Marquis Cole (born March 9, 1991), known professionally as Domo Genesis, is an American rapper 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, re ...

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 ...

and

ASAP Twelvyy Jamel Phillips (born May 30, 1989),https://www.instagram.com/p/BGCiV-ZhwX9/ better known as his stage name 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, fr ...

. 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), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...

, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul,

and

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

. On April 6, 2014, in the midst of

WrestleMania XXX WrestleMania XXX was the 30th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and WWE Network events, event produced by WWE. It took place on April 6, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome ...

, 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 professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WW ...

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, Aston Matthews and

Flatbush Zombies Flatbush Zombies (stylized as Flatbush ZOMBiES) is 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 Elliott al ...

. 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. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

Dave East David Lawrence Brewster Jr. (born June 3, 1988), better known by his stage name Dave East, is an American rapper. East began his career in 2010, and gained attention in 2014 from his eighth mixtape, ''Black Rose''. Its release garnered the attent ...

and Mac Miller. 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 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 ...

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

Discography

* ''

Rolling Stoned ''Rolling Stoned'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Smoke DZA. The album was released on August 30, 2011, by iH2D and iHipHop Distribution. The album features guest appearances from Bun B, Big K.R.I.T., Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, F ...

'' (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 appeara ...

'' (2012) * ''

Dream. Zone. Achieve ''Dream. Zone. Achieve'' (stylized as ''Dream.ZONE.Achieve'') is the third studio album by American rapper Smoke DZA. It was released on April 1, 2014, by DZA's R.F.C. Music Group record label. The album features guest appearances from Cam'ron, N ...

'' (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'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:DZA, Smoke 1984 births African-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 people American male songwriters