Oakland artist Jamel Smith aka Mr. Smith got his start in the rap game as an 11 year old boy who read
his older brother’s notebook of lyrics and later taking that same book to school to rap in front of his
fellow students. Encouraged by the continued reaction he was receiving young Jamel eventually moved
on to writing for himself and by 14 years of age, with Eminem as his inspiration, recorded his first
record. “I didn’t have the best of life, so I appreciated that he could express the things that he was going
through,” says Mr. Smith in regards to Eminem being a big early influence.
Jamel then joined a Bay Area rap group called Gunestarz under the name of Young Mel, which was
signed briefly to Epic Records. An older friend started calling him ”Mr. Smith” due to the maturity level
in his attitude and lyrics, leading to the name change from Young Mel even though he was only 17 at the
time. As for his rap style, Mr. Smith feels he doesn’t have one particular Lane because he can cover the
whole Highway, going from raw Hip-Hop to Pop and Club jams. “I let the beat talk to me and I take it
from there,” says Mr. Smith.
The Oakland native signed with the independent 319 Music Group (known for Cali Swag District’s world-
wide hit “Teach Me How To Dougie”) and recently released the “Son Them All” Mixtape (now available
on iTunes) led by the incredible remake of Eminem’s “Rap God” where Smith slays the original beat and
transforms it in to “Trap God.” “The moment that I heard Rap God on Shade 45, I was in awe and I
wanted to challenge myself to see if I could measure up. Others tried to do their own version and to me
they didn’t sound up to par so I tested myself and gave it the same feeling but with my own vision.
Eminem being my favorite artist, I hope that he can hear it and tell me that I did my thing because I
definitely tried,” says Mr. Smith on why he decided to remake the song.
The “Son Them All” Mixtape also features Hip-Hop star Kendrick Lamar can be heard in its entirety via
SoundCloud stream at http://www.siccness.net/mr-smith-sonthemall-mixtape-hosted-by-dj-kid-fresh
Follow Mr. Smith on Twitter @MrSmithPP / Instagram: @MrSmithPP /
Speak On It!