Just a day after Chika’s Grammy-week Spotify Singles release found her covering Billie Eilish, Chika’s fellow Best New Artist nominee D Smoke drops his own Spotify Singles package, including a remix of his Snoop Dogg-featuring “Gaspar Yanga” and new song “Sade.” “Sade” is an ode to the music of the British singer, but it’s also an homage to the healing power of music overall, as he addresses the hardships of his upbringing in Inglewood, California, and how music helps to ease his mind.
Meanwhile, on the more aggressive “Gaspar Yanga,” D Smoke does a little chest-beating, boasting of his success and strength. The remix is a rarity in 2021, as it’s an actual “remix” of the beat, utilizing a different sample after the original took its leading looping from the Koutev Bulgarian National Ensemble’s 1991 rendition of “Bre, Petrunko.”
D Smoke discussed his Grammy nominations — he’s also up for Best Rap Album — with Ebro Darden on Apple Music, explaining what the nominations meant for him just a year after his breakout in the wake of winning the first season of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow. “I appreciate that because a lot of people think popularity is the determinant factor,” he said. “A lot of people determine their success by the numbers. When you got artists on their own dime and their own time that make something happen, that’s worth recognizing. It’s artists that stream more than me. It’s artists that have more radio play than me. But if we’re talking about what I put out and the company that I’m amongst, I’m proud to see that list.”
Listen to D Smoke’s Spotify Singles, “Gaspar Yanga (Remix)” and “Sade,” below.