Steve 'Flash' Juon“Maybe in Nirvana” is Smino’s fourth studio album but was written and recorded before “Luv 4 Rent.” In fact its introduction now, four to five years after it was recorded (which means it predates the global pandemic), seems entirely designed to celebrate Smino’s independence. He no longer has to rely on the traditional recording industry to publish and distribute his music and can press up releases directly through Zero Fatigue. What was once just a collective of his friends has now recognized their strength in numbers and operates both as a group and a record label. Even if by some chance you’re a Smino hater you should at least stop to celebrate him and the crew as a thriving black owned business in an industry that has far too often paid black artists pennies (or less) on every dollar they generate.
Appropriately the video for the lead single “Dear Fren” feels celebratory. A very young but also very skilled tattoo artist puts new ink on Smino’s back while he raps. For all intents it appears to be a road map for his life story from the 2010’s to the present day, bringing Smino’s life full circle before we see him in the literal spotlight. He raps/sings that if you’re not willing to follow your own dreams “follow me” (him) instead. Some artists would convey this in a way that makes them come off like egotistical pricks, but Smino seems to genuinely hope his words can uplift folks. After all the song ostensibly starts out as a letter to his grandmother. It’s almost too wholesome.
If you want something a little more gritty the Groove produced “Lee” fits the bill. The song tweaks my love/hate relationship with pitch correction but Smino’s rapid fire delivery still shines through. Kendrick Lamar would definitely relate to the amount of drank in the song’s hook — a veritable swimming pool worth of liquor that escalates from “two cups” to “two liters” quickly. The PMRC would have a field day with how inappropriate this is considering the young age of Smino’s audience… except for the fact there’s already a parental advisory sticker on the cover and the PMRC lost relevance decades ago.
If there’s a significant structural deficit to “Maybe in Nirvana” it would be that the entire album clocks in at just under 29 minutes. Throw out the “Intro” and there are only 9 songs, although the average song length definitely exceeds that of his peers. We also see that Smino is relying on himself and not depending on big names to shore up his project. The two biggest to point out are Thundercat on “Hoe-Nouns” (which he co-produced with Groove) and Bun B on “Ms. Joyce,” and I’m certainly not mad at either one. Smino fluidly fits his style to accommodate whoever he works with. “That’s the type of shit we on/you ain’t with it? Fuck nigga, be gone.” Bernard Freeman spits like the elder statesman he is.
When the only negative thing you have to say about an album is “I wanted a bigger portion than this value meal serving” there’s not much to knock. If I really stretch the definition of criticism to the max then I’d say he was better on “Luv 4 Rent,” but AGAIN, this album was recorded before that even though it came out after that. As such I feel like Smino deserves more than a pass — he deserves props. If you don’t buy this album you should at least stream it and give a self-made independent black entrepreneur the dividends he deserves. Even if he gets pennies per thousand streams on a service like Spotify he no longer has to split those pennies with anybody but the fam.