Smooky MarGielaa

Emerging as a teen sensation, the Bronx-raised MC Smooky Margielaa crafts melodic sing-rap shaped by Speaker Knockerz, Chief Keef, and Migos. Taken under the wing of A$AP Rocky as a protégé, he supplied several standout verses to A$AP Mob’s Cozy Tapes, Vol. 2, which drew widespread notice and launched his independent path.

The son of Malian musician Abdoulaye Diabaté, he grew up immersed in West African sounds and developed his singing approach after the xylophone-like balafon—an instrument he played, along with the djembe, during his father’s stage performances. In childhood he also delivered Michael Jackson tributes before turning to rap. While still in junior high, his school tutor, who later became his manager, encouraged him to cut two tracks that quickly caught on among classmates. Local Bronx gigs followed, culminating in a chance encounter with A$AP Rocky outside a club; the meeting led Rocky to sign him as a protégé one year later. Margielaa’s contributions to the 2017 A$AP Mob mixtape Cozy Tapes, Vol. 2: Too Cozy included the tracks “Bahamas” and “Black Card.” The project, which climbed just shy of the Billboard 200’s Top 5, elevated his profile and paved the way for his own releases—“Stay 100,” “Money Talk,” “The Judge,” and the Chris Brown–, Juicy J–, and A$AP Rocky–featuring “Flight to Memphis.”