Ernest

Ernest Keith Smith operates under two distinct artistic identities as a musician. He first gained recognition as Ernest K., a country-rapper whose tracks fused his affinity for hip-hop with his Tennessee heritage. Shifting his billing to ERNEST, he stepped back from rap elements to highlight his abilities as a singer and songwriter, crafting material for Florida Georgia Line, Morgan Wallen, and Chris Lane. Through his own releases, ERNEST cultivated listeners by capturing varied aspects of Southern existence, whether the fluctuations of romance or the relaxed enjoyment of weekend evenings, while his vocal delivery carried a gentle, sincere twang that underscored the honesty of his words. The 2019 album Locals Only marked his transition from rap into contemporary country, with 2022's Flower Shops allowing greater emphasis on his reflective tendencies through its title track hit single. His 2024 double album Nashville, Tennessee illustrated the full scope of his country approach and included appearances by Lukas Nelson and Lainey Wilson.

Raised in Nashville, Ernest Keith Smith displayed an early devotion to music. During childhood he acquired skills on guitar and banjo, then encountered R&B and hip-hop in third grade via the soundtrack to Space Jam. Soon after, a friend provided him with a mix CD featuring Eminem, prompting him to explore the details of rap composition and performance. In his teenage years he absorbed influences from country, rap, and alternative rock acts. At age 19 a viral infection triggered a heart attack that brought him close to death, and during college he entered a period of drug dependency. Returning to Nashville to regain stability, he formed a key connection with Matt Royer, a fellow musician dating Ernest's sister; Royer operated a home studio where the pair began creating tracks that merged their hip-hop interests with Southern themes.

Ernest secured a songwriting agreement with Sony/ATV on the strength of his country-leaning work, co-writing "Dig Your Roots" for Florida Georgia Line's 2016 release. Retaining his goals as a performer, he issued his debut single "Dopeman," a raw rap, in April 2017, followed by the more romantic "Bad Boy" that September. Even as his profile as a rapper expanded, his songwriting yielded increasing success with major country cuts such as Florida Georgia Line's "I Love My Country," Sam Hunt's "Breaking Up Was Easy in the '90s," and Chris Lane's "Big Big Plans." Noting the growing sway of country in his writing, he introduced the all-caps persona ERNEST to separate that traditional material from his country-rap output. This new identity surfaced on the 2019 album Locals Only, and in the next year "Cheers" became a hit that honored Southern living by pairing banjo with an R&B-flavored beat.

ERNEST discovered common ground with Morgan Wallen, another country artist drawn to hip-hop and R&B. He emerged as one of Wallen's primary collaborators, contributing to ten tracks on the 2021 release Dangerous: The Double Album. Wallen reciprocated during sessions for ERNEST's subsequent project, joining on the title song of the 2022 LP Flower Shops. That track achieved strong success, and while it maintained traction on country radio ERNEST found himself vying with his own composition "One Mississippi," recorded by Kane Brown and reaching the summit of the Country airplay charts. He closed the year with three singles of his own, among them the reflective "Songs We Used to Sing." In 2023 he appeared on Wallen's platinum-certified album One Thing at a Time. His following effort, the 26-track 2024 album Nashville, Tennessee, stood as his longest and most openly country-focused work to date, incorporating guests including Lukas Nelson, Lainey Wilson, and Jelly Roll, who shared vocals on "I Went to College / I Went to Jail."