Smoove'L

In the evolving New York drill landscape, Smoove’L introduced a melodic sensibility rooted in his firsthand encounters with city life while advancing his path through the final years of the 2010s. Although he first cultivated an audience via Auto-Tuned trap, drill delivered his breakthrough when the 2019 single "New Apollos" accumulated tens of millions of streams across digital platforms.

Brooklyn native Smoove’L, born Lefty Frizzel Sanders, Jr., first engaged with music during his early teenage years by establishing the trap collective CLN. Following the 2015 release of the group’s singles “Hatin” and “CLN,” Sanders transitioned to solo work under the name Smooove’L DaFinesser before shortening it to Smoove’L. His initial recordings moved among multiple rap approaches yet remained defined by heavy Auto-Tune application and production aligned with then-current trap conventions. After the mid-decade tracks “Call My Phone” and “Run It Up” each surpassed hundreds of thousands of online views, he issued his debut mixtape, Youth Relationship, in July 2017; a follow-up project, My Mood, appeared that October.

Emerging from a short break, Sanders resumed activity in early 2019 by unveiling eight singles within four months. His third mixtape, 4 Boy, arrived in May and blended Auto-Tuned material with harder street-trap cuts while featuring rising Memphis rapper NLE Choppa. The fourth project, Hood 2 Hollywood, marked a decisive shift: its drill track “Big Mad” quickly became his most prominent release to that point and drew broader attention. Building on that momentum, he issued the drill anthem “New Apollos” the next month, which soon eclipsed “Big Mad” by surpassing tens of millions of streams. He closed the year with the melodic drill singles “Ouu Ahh” and “Talk wit Bro,” then prepared his fifth tape, Boy from Brooklyn. Released in May 2020, the project fully embraced drill’s jagged, percussive character while retaining his signature melodic style.