“I do this everywhere I go, just so I can let [expletives] know where I’m from,” rapper/singer Smino told the sold out crowd at Delmar Hall Sunday night. “Y’all know where I’m from, so let’s do it together.”
They turned down just long enough to see what he had up his sleeve for them. But as the beat dropped for Nelly’s “Air Force Ones” the crowd erupted all over again. It didn’t seem possible, but they took it up another notch when “E.I.” played
He was eager and proud to pay homage to the man who put St. Louis hip-hop on the map like none other before him. Based on Sunday’s incredible hometown finale for his “Swanita” national tour (international if one counts Canada), Smino’s got next.
The area just outside the entry way for the Delmar Hall buzzed with people attempting to make calls and pull strings to get into the show once they learned it was sold out. Some approached people heading in to the show offering to buy their tickets. No one obliged, though one young man successfully scalped his ticket for a profit when he learned that his girlfriend wouldn’t be able to attend with him.
Whatever he charged, the buyer got more than their money’s worth as they watched the son of STL shine in a way that’s bound to get – and keep – mainstream music’s attention in a major way sooner than later.
Before Smino, born Christopher Smith, Jr. even stepped to the stage it, was apparent that the rapper and his crew – which included a full band, background singers, DJ and producer Monte Booker –came home to blow audiences away.
They asked for the crowd’s permission to conduct a sound check. Before fans had a chance to oblige, the group of musicians stunned the already eager crowd with a “mic check, one, two three.” It was performed in three part harmony and backed by the band – so eloquently arranged and pristinely executed that it could stand on its own as a single.
Almost immediately afterwards, Smino limped to the front of the stage and was met by screams often reserved for a-list artists. He injured his leg early on in the tour thanks to a crowd surfing incident gone wrong, but he still managed to give a high energy show that had his hometown crowd proud to call him his own.
He’s come a long way from the North side, but he’s eager to let his city know that he hasn’t forgotten his roots while hipping rap music fans around the world to his St. Louis experience through his music.
In the same way that Nelly and The St. Lunatics had listeners curious about “Natural Bridge and Kinghshighway,” Smino plus Penrose and The Ville Neighborhood. He’s so St. Louis, even if it took him relocating to Chicago to launch his music career.
With the release of his debut album “blkswn” on March 14 (the unofficial urban St. Louis holiday known as “314 Day”) Smino demanded the industry’s attention. Rolling Stone Magazine called the “blkswn” track “Anita” ‘one of the summer’s coolest love songs.’
The crowd at Delmar Hall co-signed “Rolling Stone” with their reaction to the opening lyrics of the laid back mid-tempo track.
“Anita, I need her…so fleek, don’t flee from me…”
The entire Delmar Hall screamed out when he asked how many had copped “blkswn.” He didn’t have to take their word for it, because they sang along to just about every song of his 75 minute set.
The show never lost his momentum as he flexed his skills as a rare breed ambidextrous emcee with vocal chops that match his verses and flow – his ability to effortlessly weave in and out of both – through songs like “Netflix and Dusse,” the album’s title track and “Glass Flows” which featured his special guest Rayvn Lenae.
The show proved to Smino and show opener Jean Deaux that there’s no place like home.
“Yo, we been all across this country – but I couldn’t wait to bring my [expletive] back here,” Deaux told the crowd while reminiscing about he started performing at area high schools just a few years before he found himself touring with Smino.
Smino told the crowd that his ascent from unknown St. Louis rapper to having the eyes and ears of the industry is proof positive that hard work and commitment to one’s craft pays off.
“Anything you want to do is possible, just keep doing it,” Smino said.
He seemed as intent to inspire as he was to entertain before he bid farewell to his first tour – as well as express gratitude to the place that had his back from the very beginning.
“St. Louis, I love y’all from the bottom of my [Air] Forces to the top of my ‘fro,’ Smino said as he prepared to say goodbye to the tour in the city where it all began for him.
It was clear that the feeling is mutual – and the city is beyond excited to stand behind another of St. Louis hip-hop’s native sons.
