T
he rap game should consider itself warned, NaVon Smith, 34, is not your run-of-the-mill emcee. I can see the looks on your faces as you’re reading this. Please twist your mouths back into neutral, unroll your eyes and drop your collective brows, NaVon is the real thing.
A blue collar emcee on the DMV’s scene, NaVon Smith is making noise with his brand of hip hop as one that will strike familiar chords while but providing much needed nuance to the game. Like the opening stories of hip-hop legends before him, Smith started out the hard way. With a mother struggling with addiction and a father unknown, Smith was raised hard in the rough parts of Washington D.C. area often having to fend for himself. He hustled his music on the corners eventually peddling himself out of his circumstance, managing to move 10,000 units by himself. Not impressed yet? Well it appears the industry is.
Von For Vendetta
Story by Senyo Ador Photo by Ashley Kolodner
Smith’s new video ‘Fear’ dropped on MTV’s artist website a few months ago. With a flow alive with the kind of angst that hip-hop legend Canibus built in listeners in the early 90s, the man spits like he’s got a chip on his shoulder. The difference here is that we don’t necessarily have to crack open an Oxford Dictionary to break down the messages, but it doesn’t make his music any less conscious. When asked about his approach Smith said this, “I don’t care how conscious you say you are, we all come from rough environments or similar. We are all familiar with struggle. It’s [his music] always gonna be something you can relate to, no matter what.” Never shy of tackling touchy topics. His tracks can be shit starters at times. He engages the audience without compromise and his head-on approach to societal hot topics are what is getting the streets talking. On his song “Black Girl Lost” Smith is certain to find himself in more heated debates in his handling of a topic that seems to be a hot button item in popular culture today, the look and perception of the black woman. Nonetheless, Smith is prepared to ask the questions that some won’t… “What’s going on/ Every time I perform/ There’s another black girl that has dyed her hair blonde/ I ain’t saying its wrong/ and I’m not saying it’s right/ but if you ain’t trying to be white/ what you trying to be like?” It is the artist’s duty to keep the dialogue of the day on the table. A matter that Smith doesn’t take lightly, executing at a masterful level. Smith’s ‘Son of Mars’ mixtape is penciled for June 30th and his ‘Reach for the Stars’ album is due out in the latter part of 2013. NaVonSmith.com SA
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