The rapper opened up about how he get here and which of his peers inspired him most along his journey.
D Smoke is opening up about his journey to two GRAMMY nominations. The 35-year-old rapper is nominated in both the Best New Artist and Best Rap Album categories. D Smoke told ET that he's been working hard since Cardi B, T.I. and Chance the Rapper were first judging him on the Netflix music competition series, Rhythm + Flow.
"We’ve been putting in the work for a long time to get to this point so to maintain a platform like this takes a lot of work and commitment," The Black Habits rapper admitted. "So that part has really grounded me. But to get recognized is a plus for sure. It’s something worth celebrating."
D Smoke said his mom is better at celebrating his achievements than he is. He revealed that she will be his date to Sunday night's awards show.
"Yeah mom is my date, mom is my date. Yeah because she’s also on one of the songs, Black Habits. One of the songs off my project, so you know, yeah she’s rightfully the person that I’m taking with," the rapper revealed.
The first-time GRAMMY nominee told ET that one of his idols, Snoop Dogg, congratulated him on his nominations.
"Getting congrats from Snoop Dogg, hit me up you know what I’m saying. T.I. hit me up, a lot of different people hit me up," he said. "You know, close friends and family from Inglewood just reaching out, letting me know they’re proud. And it just means a lot. The ones that mean the most are the ones from home."
D Smoke reflected on his idols becoming his peers and getting recognized by them.
"The people who have reached the pinnacles, who have reached rap music in general, like Snoop Dogg, that’s really dope too, because to get recognized by your peers is something special," he added.
The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place on Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The ceremony will be broadcast live on CBS, as well as stream live on Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access).
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