Smino is a St. Louis-born rapper and singer, a core member of the Zero Fatigue collective with producer Monte Booker and a fixture of Chicago's scene alongside Noname and Saba. blkswn (2017) is the melodic, neo-soul-soaked debut to start with. Dig into Smino vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Christopher Smith Jr., performing as Smino, was born in St. Louis, Missouri on September 17, 1991. He launched his recording career in the mid-2010s and is a member of the foundational Zero Fatigue collective alongside producer Monte Booker, Bari, and Jay2. He has been based in Chicago and has collaborative work with the broader Chicago hip hop scene including Noname and Saba (the NoName/Saba/Smino circle). His distinctive blend of hip hop, neo-soul, jazz, funk, and integration of vocal melodicism has been defining of contemporary Midwest underground hip hop. His 2017 debut blkswn received critical attention. His 2022 follow-up Luv 4 Rent and 2024 Maybe in Nirvana continued his trajectory.
Smino's sound combines hip hop, alternative hip hop, neo-soul, R&B, jazz rap, funk, and contemporary R&B with his distinctive vocal delivery (use of melodic phrasing and Auto-Tune), Monte Booker / Zero Fatigue collective production approaches, and lyrical content addressing St. Louis identity, romance, and personal experience drawing on Midwest underground hip hop traditions alongside contemporary R&B and neo-soul influences.
Zero Fatigue, Downtown Records, Motown, and Interscope Records pressings of the Smino catalog have been issued in color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Smino typically start with blkswn (2017) or Luv 4 Rent (2022).
