Black Smurf

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Black Smurf has since the early 2010s developed a rap rooted in the city’s dark heritage, blending trap, phonk, cloud rap and hardcore rap, with accents sometimes close to emo rap and trap metal. Active on the online scene since 2013, Black Smurf has circulated numerous independent releases that establish a raw, nocturnal, lo-fi universe, driven by sharp flows, hazy atmospheres and recurring references to the street as well as to horrific imagery. A member of the WaterBoyz collective, he is also part of a generation of Southern US rappers who blur the lines between mixtape, EP and album. His trajectory intersects with $uicideboy$ through the collaborative trilogy Black $uicide, Black $uicide Side B: $uicide Hustle and Black $uicide Side C: The Seventh Seal, all released in 2015, along with other Southern underground artists like Pouya or Idontknowjeffery. In his discography, several tracks recur as landmarks, notably Death Star and Mortal Kombat III in 2013, Public Enemy in 2016 and Redemption in 2018. Black Smurf has since maintained an abrasive and melancholic rap aesthetic, nourished by the codes of Memphis rap, the hazy textures of cloud rap and a more frontal energy inherited from hardcore.