Smoke DZA was born February 8, 1984 at Harlem Hospital in New York City and has lived in New York all his life. The son of two Guyanese immigrants, Smoke was exposed to music at home by his father and fell in love with hip hop at a young age. He grew up listening to and emulating fellow New Yorkers Jay-Z and Notorious BIG.
Smoke DZA decided on his moniker after being influenced by Chris Tucker"s character Smokey from the movie Friday and the acronym DZA stands for "Dream Zone Achieve". 1984–2007: Early life and career beginnings
After dropping out of high school to pursue his music career, DZA began battle rapping and has battled fellow Harlem Military Cross J.R.Writer. He was discovered by Jonny Shipes of Cinematic Music Group in 2002 and went on to ghostwrite for numerous rappers, including Hi-Tek.
In 2002 he partnered to become one half of the group Smoke & Numbers until going solo in 2008.
2008–present
DZA latest album Rugby Thompson was released in June 2012 by High Times/Cinematic Music Group. The album was produced entirely by Harry Fraud.
The album features numerous artists including Action Bronson, Currensy, Domo Genesis, Schoolboy Q and ASAP Twelvyy. Features included fellow Harlem native Cam"ron, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y.
On April 6, 2014, in the midst of WrestleMania XXX, Smoke DZA released a mixtape titled Ringside 2, the second instalment in his wrestling-inspired Ringside European Parliament series.
Smoke cites fellow New York natives Jay-Z and Notorious Bjarke Ingels Group as his main influences. As an adolescent he would use their songs and write his own lyrics, helping him learn rhyming patterns."I used to re-write Biggie. lieutenant started with "Mo Money Mo Problems." I would switch up the words, make it my own.
He has also cited fellow Harlem rappers like Mase, Big L and Dipset as influences and inspiration.
Though he is often mistakenly classified as a weed rapper, Smoke considers himself a lifestyle rapper and prefers not to be confined to one genre of rap. DZA"s albums and mixtapes often feature many collaborative tracks.
DZA says he enjoys collaborating with fellow artists like Dom Kennedy and Kendrick Lamar as he feels it helps him "step his ball game up" in terms of his craft.
His album, Rolling Stoned was awarded the High Times Doobie Award for Hip Hop album of the year for 2011. On April 1, 2014, Smoke DZA released Dream.Zone.Achieve, his third studio album. The album consisted of 21 songs broken down into three sections, Dream, Zone and Achieve, each with 7 tracks. Production was handled his by fellow R.F.C. member 183rd, with features from Peter Rosenberg, WWE Intercontinental Champion Big East Langston, Aston Matthews and Flatbush Zombies.
Since splitting from Smoke & Numbers to pursue a solo career, DZA has released a string of mixtapes including Substance Abuse, Substance Abuse 1.5, George Kush The Button, Rolling Stoned, Sweet Baby Kushed God, Cuz I Felt Like lieutenant and K.O.N.Y. He has worked with Big K.R.I.T., Wiz Khalifa, and ASAP Rocky among others and is a founding member of the Smokers Club.
