Smino

Despite becoming a Chicago rap mainstay alongside local MCs like Mick Jenkins, Noname and Saba, Smino proudly reps his St. Louis origins. “I learned everything I know from St. Louis and I never lost anything St. Louis about me”, he told Apple Music. But for all his devotion to his hometown, the rapper born Christopher Smith Jr. has moved across the country since his rise. He left the Gateway to the West to attend Columbia College Chicago and quickly linked up with peers throughout the city, who became enamoured with his slick, laidback flow; after a stint in Inglewood, on the outskirts of L.A., he returned to the Windy City to form a supergroup in 2019 with Noname and Saba called Ghetto Sage. Smino is a polymath for the internet age, with albums like 2017’s blkswn and 2018’s NOIR showcasing a sonic diversity that spans electro-funk and downtempo R&B. It's a style that also reflects his cross-country travels: his funkified, futuristic, soulful rap is precise and meticulously crafted, offering traces of hip-hop from Atlanta and L.A., Louisiana and Chicago. Still, the heart of Smino’s music―his silky voice and homeward-bound lyrics―will always beat in St. Louis.