Darius Rose (born May 14, 2002), better known by his stage name SME DRO$E, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The rising artist turned his music hobby into a career since a young age, he has crafted a unique style and sound that has been attracting attention towards the rising artist, especially the attention of the people in his hometown. He is the lead member and founder of the record label, SME Da Label AKA Self-Made Entertainment (SME). He is known for songs such as “Stucc In Da Trap”, “Real Shit” and “No Pitty” off his debut EP Love Me or Hate Me. He is also about to drop his debut studio album, Livin Through Pain very soon.
Where are you from and how was life growing up? I’m from Lancaster, Pennsylvania born and raised. Life was really hard growing up for me cuz I didn’t really have that much people in my life that supported me or took care of me when I was younger other than my mom & my grandma. My family never really had that much money and we was always struggling i could rarely get all the nice new clothes, shoes, toys ETC… that everybody else had. Growing up below the poverty line is much different than you think you can’t always get what everybody else is getting or doing what there doing you kind of just have to wait your turn, work your ass off & when you really come from the button you don’t get shit handed to you.
How did the artist name come to be? I don’t really get or have that much help in this industry because people never want to see you at the top and winning. I do everything on my own so one day I was just thinking to my self “Damn I really am Self-Made” and then a few weeks later I actually started my own label called “SME Da Label” AKA Self-Made Entertainment and then from there I just thought of putting SME in front of my nickname which is DRO$E and then I just ended up with SME DRO$E.
Where does the inspiration come from for creating music? Meek Mill has been my favorite rapper since I was a lil kid I grew up watching his videos of him free styling in the streets doing just about everything just to make it out of the hood. Meek Mill is a huge inspiration to me because we come from the same place and I can relate to a lot of things that happened to him in life. I want to be the king of my city and just really put on for my people just like Meek. I also grew up listening to 50 Cent, and Lil Wayne.
What artists inspired you the most and who do you currently listen to? The top 3 artists that inspired me to start my music career will definitely have to be Meek Mill, 50 Cent, and Michael Jackson. I actually don’t really listen to other peoples music other than my own because I feel like listening to others artists music too much especially if your an artist yourself is distracting because if you fuck with them and there sound so much you want and try to become just like them, sound like them, rap like them ETC… I just listen to my own music because I’m just trying to be different and sound like me and nobody else I’m trying to create my own lane.
What kind of support do you get from your home town/state? Well as of right now I am probably one of the most hated artist in my hometown just because most people don’t like to see you be successful, win or be at the top so bad and they just be mad because your doing better than them and i’m just simply doing something that they can’t. On Instagram though I get hella love from pretty much everybody including famous artists/people. My fan base on my social medias are very supportive and loyal I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.
If you wasn’t making music, what would you be doing right now? if I never even started rapping or made a song I’d probably have my own business to resell things such as sneakers, clothes, hats, jewelry pretty much just resell anything. I would definitely just like to work for my self and not for no boss, because I want to call the shots.
What really makes you stand out and different from other artists? What really makes me stand out as an artist the most is definitely my melodic flows, my voice, my punch-ins, my catchy hooks and just how young I am and the potential that I have. I want this shit more than anything in the world I worked my ass to get to where am today so I can’t let up now. I can pretty much rap on any type of beat, I don’t write any of my songs there all freestyles right off the top of my head at the moment. I feel like I can drop hits when ever I feel like it and I can effortlessly switch my voice from rapping to singing.
Tell us your craziest life story: When I got a call to open up for Lil Baby at a sold out show in Philly I will never forget that night that shit was crazyy or when I was placed on 147 Calboy’s mixtape that he was hosting. I have some crazy ass stories but those are definitely the ones in going to remember forever that related to music.
What’s your biggest goal in the music industry? I want the whole world to know who I am and actually recognize how hard I work for this shit and how talented I actually am. I feel like I am so heavily underrated and slept on it’s crazy. I want to give my mom, Grandma, and my siblings a life they have never experienced and a huge ass mansion. I want to make sure my mom never has to work a job ever again. I want to repay back my grandma for everything that she has every done for me because with out her I probably wouldn’t even be alive right now to be honest. I just want to make sure my family is set for life.
If you could collaborate with one single artist who would it be and why? I would want to collab with Meek Mill for sure not only because he’s my favorite rapper but also because he just go stupid on every song and if we had a song together the city would go crazyyy.
Favorite artists of all time and why? My top 3 favorite artists of all time would definitely have to be Tupac, Jay Z, and Rihanna. There my favorite artists of all time because In my opinion they are legends for one and I feel like every song they dropped they have never missed and always mange to sell so much records.
What advice would you give to inspiring music artists? Never give up or quit on your dreams or what you love to do, don’t give a fuck what anybody has to say or thinks about you or your career if you love what you doing keep doing it because tomorrow could be the day when your whole life changes. And be passionate about what you do especially if you know your good at it. Just think only positive vibes negatives will try to pull you down to your lowest.
Social Media Links: Instagram – https://instagram.com/smedrose
SoundCloud – https://soundcloud.com/smedrose
Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sme-dro%24e/1472114311
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dmRZpkHlburou2hHPEK98?si=Spn_Uco1QyyKg6fE5ttssw
