If you’ve spent enough time in the underground, you already know who DJ Smokey is. For over a decade, he’s been building his own world—dark, blown-out, absurd, and tragically hilarious. His sound helped shape the phonk revival long before it had a name.
He’s built a cult following the old way: self-releasing tapes, dodging the industry, and flooding the internet with haunted trunk-knockers that feel beamed in from a Memphis basement and a Nintendo 64 startup screen at the same time.
Now, after years of staying low to the ground, Smokey’s voice is suddenly everywhere—anchoring the surprise new Skrillex album. Smokey hosts the whole thing. Creating the glue that holds a rapid fire flurry of ideas together as a package.
Early Career:
Smokey grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, but his musical roots are dedicated to Memphis rap and 2000's mixtape culture. By the time Evil Wayz landed in 2013, he already had it down: dusty horror movie samples, 808's that rattles the floor. His tags became legendary in their own right—equal parts threat, meme (Shadow Wizard Money Gang), and moral compass (“DJ Smokey will break your neck if you disrespect women!”). Each tape is a contiguous aural experience that either entrances you or filters you.
He brings the same energy to his collaborations–Smokey was influential in the early careers of Yung Lean, and Lil Peep quietly becoming a backbone of the SoundCloud underground. He stayed moving, stayed weird. Then came the nukes.
Apocalypse Music
In the past few years, Smokey’s output has turned even more cartoonishly apocalyptic: Nuked Out Dance Party, Cowboys With Nukes, This Album Is Terrorism. The titles sound like jokes, but the music remains steadfast in it's commitment. Across those records, Smokey doubled down on his formula: booming low-end, haunted VHS textures, and enough irony to keep things playful. He also proved that he could score anything from a Florida street fight to an Adult Swim fever dream—and that people would show up for it.
Which is why the Skrillex collab doesn’t feel like a random moment. It feels earned. It feels overdue.
When Smokey’s longtime vocal collaborator opens FUS. It's an embracing of a different corner of the internet. Smokey doesn’t just host the album, he warps it. He injects the personality that most EDM projects leave behind. It’s weird, funny, and genuinely unpredictable—just like his best tapes.
The Victory Lap
Dj Smokey has never chased the spotlight, but the spotlight caught up with him anyway. And the fact that it happened without him cleaning up the act—or the cover art—is a monumental win. There’s a whole generation of DIY producers and net-native rappers who cite DJ Smokey as a reason they started making music. Now he’s in front of millions, still doing exactly what he’s always done.
He's attained the underground dream: don’t switch up, just get so undeniable that the world has to meet you where you are.