Career
Foreign the football player of the same name see Frankie Smith. He is best known for his 1981 single "Double Dutch Business". He went to college in Tennessee for elementary education with a minor in music
He became a writer for funk and soul artists such as the O"Jays and The Spinners.
He has also been influential in the careers of the rappers Tone Lōc, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg. With his 1981 single "Double Dutch Business", released by WMOT Records, Smith popularized a nonsensical form of slang, (From his song "Slang thang", 1981 WMOT records) in which "iz" is placed in the middle of a word (for example, the word "place" becomes "plizace") or the last letters of a word are replaced with "-izzle" (ex sure becomes shizzle).
The style became part of hip-hop slang, and was popularized by rappers Snoop Dogg and East-40. The style today holds a place in popular slang.
"Double Dutch Business" itself has been sampled frequently in hip-hop, including Snoop Dogg"s "Snoop Dogg (What"s My Name, Pt 2)" and Missy Elliott"s "Gossip Folks".
Both records were produced by Timbaland. His single "Double Dutch Business" is also featured in the 2008 Disney movie College Road Trip starring Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symoné. A native Philadelphian, Smith once applied to be a bus driver for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority), which operates Philadelphia"s public transit system, but South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority turned him down.
The "Transpass" referred to by Smith in "Double Dutch Business" is an actual monthly fare pass issued by South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.