For St. Louis native and rapper Smino, there’s no place like home, so he has always been on a mission to use his platform to elevate other creatives with roots in the Midwest city like him.

“I got this thing that I be saying, ‘My family tree a evergreen, the roots too deep to ever leave.’ Being from here kept me down to earth, so I think I move through the world, and I’m able to actually maintain connections; people can sense that I’m not really looking for anything from them,” the Luv 4 Rent MC told Blavity recently.

“I’m not trying to mask and disguise who I am, and they’re just like, ‘Oh, that’s who he is,’ and I’ve been blessed to meet a lot of cool people based off of the stuff that I learned about how to be a man in St. Louis,” he continued.

No stranger to returning home to put on for his city, Smino joined the St. Louis City Soccer Club for a block party to kick off its home opener for the 2024 season. Beyond that, the two entities revealed a new partnership, Homegrown, geared toward spotlighting up-and-coming talent in St. Louis.

“Smino is so passionate about his hometown and giving back to this city, and his mission aligns with ours in elevating St. Louis and the talented people who are part of it,” STL City SC chief experience officer Matt Sebek said. “As one of the hottest rising artists in music today, he is continuing to raise the bar on a national and international level, and we know his perspective and expertise will be invaluable to our Homegrown musicians as they take the next step in their careers.”

“I love integrating with St. Louis and other organizations here trying to spearhead this St. Louis thing,” Smino added. “We’re trying to take St. Louis to the world, and that’s what this team is doing, and I want to help them get these wins.”

With his eclectic style and a different approach to the music game as a rapper whose cadence and lyricism give a nod to his soulful background, Smino admits there weren’t always people who represented what he wanted to do as an artist during his rise to fame.

Now that he’s arrived, Smino makes it a point to lift as he climbs for all of the musicians in the city who may feel like they need more space or resources to be seen.

“I never really saw representations of myself in a lot of situations. I always went and became that, you know what I’m saying,” he noted. “I didn’t necessarily have anyone helping me out, which is why I’m so adamant to help people. No one was helping us out. Not at all. The people who would help out were like Made Monarchs; they set examples. My homie Adrian Walker, he’s like an OG photographer from St. Louis, but his whole camp was just trying to do stuff different in St. Louis, and they might be the first people I saw that did that.”

Smino continued, “Even then, they didn’t really have much to give because there’s not many resources to give people in St. Louis. Everyone needs all of their own resources for themselves. It gets to a point where the door is this big, and if I’m going through it, I’m gonna knock you down to get through it. So, we’re just trying to make the door a little bigger. Actually, we’re trying to tear it all the way down and make it an open space.”

The inaugural Homegrown imprint will consist of five St. Louis artists, including bassist and vocalist Tonina, who says this is a full-circle moment after having previously crossed paths with Smino in Los Angeles.

“I was genuinely geeked,” she said about learning of her selection to participate in the program. “Our paths first crossed at a studio in L.A., and we’ve admired each other’s work for several years now. It was a moment of mutual respect and excitement to collaborate, and while Homegrown will mark our first official collaboration, it feels like it’s just the beginning! We’ve had conversations about our experiences as St. Louis natives living in L.A., and having the opportunity to collaborate and participate in a project that uplifts our city while merging music and sports is truly a dream come true.”

She championed Smino’s commitment to uplifting artists with the same connections to the city as he does.

“The five artists chosen to be a part of Homegrown represent genres that have undoubtedly influenced Smino’s music journey. Jazz, hip-hop, country, and even rock elements echo throughout Smino’s discography, showcasing his diverse musical palette,” Tonina said. “This project is not just an opportunity for Smino to pay homage to his roots, but also a chance to uplift a community of native St. Louisans who share a passion for music. Collaborating with artists at various stages of their careers demonstrates Smino’s commitment to nurturing talent and fostering collaboration within his hometown.”

The “Summer Salt” rapper’s work doesn’t just start and end with Homegrown.

In a previous Blavity interview, Smino hinted at plans to turn his annual showcase that puts St. Louis creatives in the same space to connect and thrive, Kribmas, into an educational platform.

“It will be a school, Kribmas Academy; I want it to be a school,” he exclaimed. “I want to purchase an actual old high school. I’m working on that right now, renovating it, and I really want all of the lights. I want everything to be available. From arts to all sorts of talents. I don’t care if you’re a visual artist; if you’re a writer. I don’t care. Whatever. Even if you do coding… anything that we could possibly look at as a talent, I want everyone to feel like they can learn at their own pace, like a Montessori school for the arts, because most of the schools in St. Louis don’t even have an art program.”

Until then, fans can anticipate hearing more from Smino, Tonina and other artists, including Matt Jordan, Brock Seals, Hazmat, and Lani Rose, during select block parties held throughout the 2024 STL City SC season.