Charlie Smarts lives in Brooklyn now, but his heart is in North Carolina. Since childhood, Smarts has been steeped in the rich landscape of NC hip hop. He’s originally from Greensboro, the same city as Phonte from Little Brother, the illustrious rap trio which also boasted Big Pooh and the legendary producer 9th Wonder.

“When I was young, it was just always a part of everything,” Smarts explained about the presence of music in his upbringing. In addition to being in the church choir, his mother was a singer who experienced some regional success, opening for acts such as KRS-One. 

NC Rap Scene Is Uniquely Rich

The hip hop landscape in North Carolina is as diverse as the city itself. You’ll find the introspective, lyrical acts of J. Cole and rising star Morray. You’ll find the street-oriented sounds of Charlotte’s breakout act DaBaby. You’ll also find soulful lo-fi talent bubbling just below the city’s mainstream. It’s this unique blend of cultures and various sounds that makes the NC rap scene one of the most unique and rich.  

Bathed in the diverse sounds of North Carolina, Smarts was destined to be an artist. In his college days at NC State, he assembled an on-campus hip hop collective, H20, that would eventually become Kooley High. The collective also included DJ ill Digitz, producers Sinopsis and Foolery, and rappers Tab-One and the illustrious Rapsody. Since their conception in 2007, Kooley High has drawn critical acclaim for albums such as Kooley High Presents…David Thompson and 2018’s Never Come Down.

Good Things in 2020

Last year, Smarts released We Had a Good Thing Going, his debut solo project. Packed full of smooth production and soulful samples, it’s an album toned by the sonics of North Carolina, picking up on the sounds he began constructing while in college. “The Kooley High sound which is what we were formulating back then is really boom-bap, North Carolina inspired [hip hop]. The school of 9th Wonder.” 9th, a godfather figure in NC rap, was an early supporter of the Kooley High movement. Alongside executive producing the collective’s latest he also featured Smarts on “Goodfellas” from Jamla Is The Squad II. The release is a roundup of the talent on 9th’s label, the current home for Rapsody. 

We Had a Good Thing Going is in part a continuation of the image he has been building with Kooley High for over a decade. But it also demonstrates growth and a broader range of individualistic expression from an artist who’s always rapped in a group. His raps are slick, and his pen is sharp, but it’s his singing that ties the project together, finding lovely harmonies on tracks like “All My Love” atop producer T-Mos’s emotive beats.

“Rollin’ In The Hay” in 2021

Charlie Smarts is nothing if not prolific and is currently holding on to over two albums worth of material, waiting for the right time to drop. With Kooley High’s latest single “Hold Up” receiving due praise, and their latest single “Rollin’ In The Hay” which dropped on February 12, the North Carolina rapper is primed for a big 2021.