St. Louis: A long-forgotten city on mainstream rap’s radar since the days of Nelly and St. Lunatics, but 25-year-old Smino aims to revive his city’s presence with his latest project, blkswn. For his first widely recognized debut, blkswn is an introspective peak into Smino’s experiences as a young, modern black man: His brightly-hued lyrics ricochet between rat-a-tat rhymes and his sing-songy rap-crooning traverses through his backwood vices, navigating through the tricky world of millennial relationships and the contrast of his own ambitions and that of his family’s. blkswn is a solid offering from a promising young emcee that just wants [...]