NASHVILLE, TN - Artist $mitty (born Jared Smith), was compelled by music as a way of adjusting to a new environment. Though he grew up in a military-based suburb of California, fate brought his family to Norfolk where he discovered a melting pot of culture. Because he was unfamiliar with the “hood,” he was picked on and told he “talked like a white boy.” Eager to fit in with his peers, the artist took to music, and began to identify with the lyrics he heard on the radio. “I stared studying these ‘cool guys,’ and by the time I was 16, I was rapping myself.” As it turns out, hip hop needed $mitty as much as he needed hip hop. In the era of Soulja Boy-esque rap, a void needed to be filled with “potent product.” That’s exactly what $mitty delivers to fans.
Heavily influenced by 90’s rap, the artist fuses West and East coast flare with a bit of southern charm. The artist explains, “My slang is very strange and broad in a sense – I might say something like a New York dude and then I’m really southern, because that’s where my people came from.” $mitty is inspired by the likes of Jay Z’s rags-to-riches story, and envies how the rap icon turned his talent into a massive empire (not to mention, $mitty knows almost every fact about Jay Z off the top of his head, right down to his birthday).
Now, the artist is ready to debut his first mixtape entitled “The Hunger”– his entrance as a serious, accomplished rapper will release on January 20th. The album was written while $mitty sat behind bars, incarcerated and hopeless at the thought of his daughter being born “on the outside.” Instead of losing all faith, the rapper used his energy and funneled it into something positive, determined to make something of his gifts when he was ultimately released. “I really poured my heart into it,” he admits. The mix tape is a war cry, a commitment to a renewed sense of purpose. At 22 years old, $mitty hit rock bottom, but it’s his talent that’s going to put him back on top.
Follow on Instagram (@h.smitty12)
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