Smooth Era was conceived as a product of passion and ambition, and the commitment of two dear friends to one another. Our origins derived from a combination of our two names, symbolizing our devotion to making our creative goals our reality, on our terms. The name “Smooth Era” became our vessel to try to make a life centered around our creativity. Our hope is to encourage healthy, consistent and unique methods of creation between us, and eventually with the aim to profit so that we could survive off of solely following our passions. This is what Smooth Era meant to US. But we had to part ways, and with that separation came a chance for me to carry our goal further, I thought it would be alone. I was wrong. 

Smooth Era to ME, has evolved. Over the last year we have cultivated a beautiful community, bringing people together who are dedicated to a platform for artistry and self discovery. As Smooth Era grew, it demanded a concrete mission to keep itself alive. In pursuit of solidifying this mission, I first gave attention to the meaning of the words within the name themselves. In a time of hard hitting trap music, 808s, and a push to bring back the boom bap music of the 90s, I have caught myself thinking time and time again, we need an intentional shift to smooth music. Smooth can mean so many things, but quite literally I would associate it with the feeling that makes my brain tickle, whether it’s ear candy, or a satisfying puzzle of a song. I want to do in hip hop, r&b and music as a whole what was once done by those in the ‘Rare Groove’ movement of the 70’s (see Bill Withers, Gil Scott Heron, etc.). My aim is to create a smoothness in our music again. This does not mean one specific sound, but rather a general attitude towards our creation, performance, and representation. 

Smooth Era is becoming an artistic machine. A vessel greater than our individual selves, devoted to the consistent production of meaningful and well thought out music. Eventually this vision will translate to other mediums of artistic creation. Smooth Era operates as a label, but not one seeking only profit from its artists. Our intention is to support their potential and pure artistic vision, while ethically maximizing their output. We will be strategizing with their brands, sound and image to create a platform of unadulterated artistry, creating a direct path from the artist to the audience and consumer. This path will have as little third party meddling (on behalf of profit specifically) as possible. This is important to us. 

Our aim is for the rest of the 2020s and into the 2030s to truly be a Smooth Era in music and art. Our organization represents the mission of crafting the most authentic pressure cooker of artistry globally, over the next decade.

We will nurture our artists, we will be our artists, we will befriend our artists, we will create an environment where creation will never be hindered, and the general public can truly access what is created through this process. 

We want safe creation, happy creation, collaborative creation, we want honesty, transparency, vulnerability, but most importantly, that shit (whatever that shit may be) has to slap. This is the first step to creating our own era. A SMOOTH ERA.