Na-Kel Smith. Photo by Tyrea Seals
When Odd Future's dominance was peaking, even the rap crew's peripheral associates managed to capture the public's attention. Na-Kel Smith was one of these individuals. A professional skateboarder, he waited until Odd Future fizzled out before embarking on a rap career of his own. The tapes Twothousand Nakteen and 3000nakteen were released in 2019, and revealed Smith as a gloriously unbridled presence on the mic and as a producer. Today, he's back with +, his second project of the year after January's SKULLFACE BONEHEAD.
+ is a continuation of the bold stylistic jump for Smith found on SKULLFACE. The intensity of his flow, a puckish thing with the texture of a scabbed knee, is softened by the psychedelic pastels of his beats and the playfulness with pitching. Smith is one of the young rappers – most notably 454, the Florida-based rapper who features on "FOREIGNTIMING" – who plays with the sound of his voice, cranking it up to chipmunk speed and giving the songs an anything-goes sensation. In a sign of where Smith may have gotten some inspiration for his sound, one of the songs is called "POPSTAR LIKE BENNY," a tribute to the versatile and fast-rising Atlanta producer. Listen below.