Corey Smith Launches Blacksmith Recordings
“Today, more than ever, artists are evolving their professional identities in multi-faceted ways,” said Smyth, Founder & CEO of Blacksmith Recordings. “My mission through Blacksmith Recordings is to nurture young and new talent from the ground up and enable them to expand their vision of success. We are looking at the big picture — we’re thinking about how a musician evolves across genres, what success looks like in the first year and a decade later… and what happens after the first album and the second and the third. Our goal is to reinforce career longevity and boundless potential in the artists we represent, while growing global brands around them.”
Smyth founded the Blacksmith brand in 1991 while attending Morehouse College and majoring in marketing. Since its inception, Smyth has guided the careers of Mos Def, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, Foxy Brown, Lil’ Jon, Dave Chappelle, Pete Rock and David Banner, to name a few. He also served as music producer for Chappelle’s Show, and produced the comedian’s 2006 concert film Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. Smyth also produced the feature film Gully, directed by Nabil Elder, which recently debuted at the Tribeca film Festival.