Smino puts on for his hometown of St. Louis in a major way with blkswn, his soulful, deeply-funk-inspired debut album he just dropped today (March 14). Not so coincidentally, his project's release date also reflects St. Louis' area code, 314.

Last year, XXL profiled the "Anita" performer for their The Break series, and the St. Louis artist detailed his family's rich musical background, some of which you can probably say influenced the sound of blkswn.

"My granddaddy is a bass player; he’s in the Blues Hall of Fame. My daddy plays keys, my mother sings, my big cousin, she toured the world singing," Smino explained.

He continued, "So I just kind of like, shit man, I might as well do music then. I started recording and really making and getting my music down at 13. I was really every day with it by the time I was 13. What made me want to do music was I just saw how happy everyone in my family was doing it. What made me want to take it to another level was like [seeing them] so good at it. There were people that were real good at it that [my family] was better than and they making money. Let me just try to really stay on it and I wanted a different way to live."

You can hear Smino's addition to his family's legacy of musical excellence and the rap game as a whole by streaming blkswn on Apple Music or downloading it on iTunes. You can also stream the project below, on SoundCloud.

Smino’s blkswn Tracklist

1. “Wild Irish Roses”
2. “Maraca”
3. “Glass Flows”
4. “Flea Flicka”
5. “Spitshine”
6. “Netflix and D’usse”
7. “Anita”
8. “Lobby Kall”
9. “Edgar Allan Poe’d Up”
10. “Father Son Holy Smoke”
11. “B Role”
12. “blkoscars”
13. “blkswn”
14. “Long Run”
15. “Innamission”
16. “Silk Pillows”
17. “Ricky Millions”
18. “Amphetamine”

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