Smoke has released a mixtape called “Leann’s Son”
Timmy “Smoke” McNeal better known by his family, friends, and fans as Smoke was born July 11, 1987 in Canton, Ohio, home of the football Hall of Fame. He was born and raised on the north east side of Canton. He grew up much like most of the children that grew up in the city, as a child he was exposed to the rougher side of Canton, Ohio. Every day “Smoke” was subjected to violence, drugs, poverty, and gangs and that seemed to increase with every passing day.
He remembers listening to The Notorious B.I.G., as well as Tupac Shakur and being able to relate to the lyrics and meaning of their music because of his experiences in his own environment. It was then when his passion for music began, at the young age of 9 Smoke started playing the saxophone and later developed the passion to rap which lead to many rap sessions in the cafeteria at school with his peers. At the age 14 Smoke became more involved in Hip Hop and began to write his own music. During that time Smoke met someone by the name of Conz, whom later became his friend and producer; and has remained a good friend and continued to produce his music to this day.
When asked what artist influenced his style of Rap/Hip Hop, his reply was “no rapper actually influenced my style, my music became a product of my city.” Smoke has recently released a mixtape called “Leann’s Son” which is dedicated to his mother whom he lost to cancer the previous year. The mixtape embodies who he was and how he felt during the toughest time of his life. Each track holds some meaning to who Smoke is while also exposing the life he lived as well as the toll it took on him mentally, emotionally and physically. From drugs, domestic violence, incarceration, and death to love, loyalty, friendship and survival, this mixed tape taps into every aspect of his life. This even includes some of the last moments he shared with his mother before she passed, may she rest peace.
In his song “Leann’s Son” Smoke devotes his life, his talent and growth as a man to his mother Leann. With no shame Smoke pours the emotional scars of losing his mother on this track and throughout the entire tape. Other songs tap into his life outside of the loss of his mother and more into the life living in the city. With tracks like “Hell on Earth” featuring Jean P the MC, “Respect” featuring Radohh, “Problem”, “Talk About It’ featuring Raymo, and the “First 48” we see another side to Smoke that breaks down the darker side growing up in the city. These songs show us the rougher street savvy side of Smoke with references to the struggles within the streets, his relationships and the system. He accomplished all this while maintaining his sense of humor and confidence in himself, his city and his music.
These tracks show his commitment to the hustle regardless of the way he accomplishes it. Then there are tracks like “Puzzle” featuring Radohh that seem to bring us back to the emotional aspects of his life and where he and things went wrong. This mixtape is full of emotion, passion, and meaning. As far as future projects go, Smoke will also be re-releasing his album “The Book of Timothy” on all steaming sites in January 2020. Smoke is working with many local artists and plans to appear in a lot of music from Canton, Ohio very soon. While he is doing this, he is also working quietly on another mixtape called “A Kings God.”
Smoke hopes to tell his story to people as well as allowing others to tell their story also through his music. He hopes to sell out every event he is involved in. Smoke also has big plans in future of starting a label so he can put fellow artists that he loves in a position to succeed as well. Smokes love for Hip Hop, his city, and his people is deeper than just his own success. He feels that Hip Hop and music in general has saved his life. Putting his heart and soul in music has kept his head in the game and his body out of the streets, getting back into music was the best choice he ever made. Timothy “Smoke” McNeal’s talent and passion are forces to be reckoned with, you will be seeing him and his music very soon.
United States | United Kingdom | Japan (Asia) | Canada | Mexico | Germany | France | Italy | Brazil | Spain | Australia | New Zealand | Ireland | Portugal | Russia | Netherlands | Poland | Finland | Sweden | Greece | Switzerland | Czech Republic
No comments