Smoke DZA

Sean Pompey (born February 8, 1984), better known by his stage name Smoke DZA, is an American rapper.

Smoke DZA
Smoke DZA performing at Smoker's Club Tour in 2010.
Background information
Birth nameSean Pompey
Born (1984-02-08) February 8, 1984
New York City, New York, U.S.
GenresHip hop
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • songwriter
Years active2002–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitewww.smokedza.net

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.[1] He grew up listening to and emulating fellow New Yorkers Jay-Z and Notorious BIG.[2] After dropping out of high school to pursue his music career, DZA began battle rapping and has battled fellow Harlem-based rapper J.R. Writer.[3] Smoke DZA decided on his moniker after being influenced by Chris Tucker's character Smokey from the movie Friday and the acronym DZA stands for "Dream Zone Achieve".[4] He was discovered by Jonny Shipes of Cinematic Music Group in 2002 and went on to ghostwrite for numerous rappers, including Hi-Tek.[5] In 2002, he partnered to become one half of the group Smoke & Numbers, until going solo in 2008.[6]

2008–16: Rugby Thompson, Dream.Zone.Achieve and Don't Smoke Rock

Since splitting from Smoke & Numbers to pursue a solo career,[6] 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., Wiz Khalifa, and ASAP Rocky among others and is a founding member of the Smokers Club.[7] His album, Rolling Stoned was awarded the High Times Doobie Award for Hip Hop album of the year for 2011.[8] 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.[9] The album features numerous artists including Action Bronson, Currensy, Domo Genesis, Schoolboy Q and ASAP Twelvyy.[10]

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, Joey Bada$, Ab-Soul, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y.[11]

On April 6, 2014, in the midst of WrestleMania XXX, 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 Big E Langston, Aston Matthews and Flatbush Zombies.[12]

On December 2, 2016, he and Pete Rock released "Don't Smoke Rock", featuring 13 songs with guest appearances from Rick Ross, Dave East, Cam'ron, Big K.R.I.T. & Mac Miller.[13]

Musical style and influences

Smoke cites fellow New York natives Jay-Z 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."[14] He has also cited fellow Harlem rappers like Mase, Big L and Dipset as influences and inspiration.[15] 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.[16] DZA's albums and mixtapes often feature many collaborative tracks. DZA says he enjoys collaborating with fellow artists like Dom Kennedy and Kendrick Lamar as he feels it helps him "step his ball game up" in terms of his craft.[17]

Discography
Main article: Smoke DZA discography


EP's
  • Substance Abuse 1.5: The Headstash (2011)
  • Ringside (2013)
  • Cuz I Felt Like It (2013)
  • The Stage (2013, with Curren$y and Harry Fraud)
  • Ringside 2 (2014)
  • Ringside 3 (2015)
  • Ringside 4 (2016)
  • Ringside 5 (2017)
  • An Iceberg Big Christmas (2017)
  • Ringside 6 (2018)
  • Uptown (2019, with Vado & 183rd)
  • Prime Location, Volume 1 (2019)
  • Prime Location, Volume 2 (2019)
  • Ringside 7 (2019)
  • Bacon, Eggs & Trees (2019)
  • Statue of Limitations (2019, with Benny The Butcher)
  • Prestige Worldwide (2019, with Curren$y)
  • Two Packs EP (2019, with Pounds)
  • Ringside 8 (2020)

Mixtapes
  • Substance Abuse (2009)
  • George Kush Da Button (2010)
  • The Hustlers Catalog (2011)
  • Sweet Baby Kushed God (2011)
  • KONY (2012)
  • The Outsiders (2014, with R.F.C.)
  • George Kush Da Button: Don't Pass Trump The Blunt (2016)
  • Cuz I Felt Like It Again (2017)
  • A Closed Mouth Don't Get Fed (2020)[21]
gollark: Well, it went offscreen quite fast.
gollark: Indeed.
gollark: Oh, hey, it started making the highway now.
gollark: You maaaay want to take out the console spam now.
gollark: This is very cool, actually, especially for 60 lines of code. I like cellular automata.

References
  1. KingVanGogh. "Digiwaxx TV and @PhotosbyRome Present: A Conversation with @SmokeDZA". Video. The Blast By DIGWAXX. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  2. Pomellis, Ayarra. "Smoke DZA Interview: "Rolling Stoned"". Raw Roots. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  3. "Video: Smoke DZA Interview with Angela Yee". Nah Right. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  4. Thisis50Tv. "TI50: Smoke DZA Says His Name Came From The Movie "Friday" & LA Has The Best Weed". Thisis50.com. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  5. Marrack, Peter. "Interview: Smoke DZA". The Marrack. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  6. Marrack, Peter. "The Interview with Smoke DZA". Respect Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  7. Markman, Rob. "Fire Starter: Smoke DZA". MTV. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  8. Black, Bobby. "2011 Doobie Awards Round Up". High Times. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  9. Diep, Eric. "Album Stream:Smoke DZA "Rugby Thompson"". Complex Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  10. Badami, Anthony. "Discovery Smoke DZA". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  11. Hardy, Jasmine. "Smoke DZA "Dream.ZONE.Achieve" Release Date, Cover Art & Tracklist". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  12. James, Nicolas. "Smoke DZA - Ringside 2 EP (Prod. By 183rd)". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  13. Don't Smoke Rock
  14. Badami, Anthony. "Discovery: Smoke DZA". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  15. Copastetik, Cris. "Smoke DZA Talks "Rolling Stoned" Reviews". Deal with No Deal. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  16. "Smoke DZA Interview with Good*Fella Media". video. FreshGrind.com. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  17. Meara, Paul. "Smoke DZA Interview". TheMearaBlog.com. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  18. "He Has Risen by Smoke DZA on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  19. "Don't Smoke Rock by Smoke DZA & Pete Rock on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  20. "Not for Sale by Smoke DZA on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  21. "A Closed Mouth Don't Get Fed by Smoke DZA on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
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