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Written by Aidan Werder
There’s no question that Jacksonville artist, Nardo Wick has a viral hit on his hands with “Who Want Smoke.”
Not much is known about this young artist out of Jacksonville, apart from that he is fearless, hungry, and absolutely blowing up right now. Since dropping “Who Want Smoke” less than a month ago on Jan 22, the video has amassed over 1.8M views on Youtube and attracted the eyes of some of the biggest names in the game, already with cosigns from G Herbo and Lil Durk.
The MontanaShotYa-directed video features Nardo and company appropriately decked out in all-black - ski masks and all. Nardo’s over-the-top, unapologetic bars and dark, aggressive energy juxtaposed with his raspy, understated north Florida drawl and haunting, horror-movie-sound-effect production makes for a hugely compelling single that leaves wondering what else this kid has up his sleeve.
“Who Want Smoke” is littered with some outrageous, instant-meme-worthy bars that not too many could pull off the way Nardo does. Lines like: “I think my Draco might be gay…” and “5-6-7-8 don’t make no noise I’ll eat your face.” As if that wasn’t enough to separate him from the pack, smack dab in the middle of the song are 4 whole bars containing nothing but the sound of Nardo and company stomping on the ground in unison - that somehow manages to be just as captivating and even more menacing than the brazen bars that follow.
Apart from the multiple, hugely compelling aspects of the song, the thing that probably pushed it over the edge into true virality was a cosign from Chicago’s G Herbo, who apparently has been bumping the track on IG Live for weeks even before it officially dropped. Nardo’s unique cadence and boundary-pushing style seemed to have caught the attention of Herbo’s followers - which makes sense when you think about it, as Herbo is also known for having a unique flow pattern, aggressive vocals, and similarly outrageous lyrics.
The track got another boost from a second Chicago legend on Feb 5th, when a Nardo fan tweeted a question at Lil Durk, “Can u do a song with nardo wick? DONT SLEEP LOOK HIM UP” - to which Durkio replied, “Don’t gotta look em up he on my playlist”
As if Nardo Wick wasn’t already having an all-star 2021, just last week the soundtrack for the highly anticipated new movie, Judas and the Black Messiah was announced - and right there, track 13 of Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album is “I Declare War” by Nardo Wick.
Nardo is in excellent company on this soundtrack, sandwiched between tracks from G Herbo, his biggest cosign, and one of the hottest new phenoms in the game, Pooh Shiesty. The soundtrack also features the much-discussed posthumous Jay-Z and & Nipsey Hussle collab, “What It Feels Like” - in addition to the rest of the all star cast that includes Nas, Hit-Boy, Black Thought, H.E.R., Lil Durk, Polo G, DOM KENNEDY, A$AP Rocky, Rakim, and more.
The only question left for the young Jacksonville phenom is what’s next from here? Already off to an incredible start, making as much noise as just about anyone in 2021, the sky is limit for Nardo Wick. Between the impressive Judas and the Black Messiah placement and the massive viral success of “Who Want Smoke” - not to mention the accompanying memes and TikToks that are sure to start popping up - we’re sure to see plenty more from Nardo throughout the year.
Check out the “Who Want Smoke” video below - already at 1.8M views and climbing - and be sure to check Nardo Wick’s “I Declare War” off the highly-anticipated Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album.
