Back when Southern-based rap music was slept on nationwide, overlooked by major labels and ignored on radio, UGK’s groundbreaking gold album Ridin’ Dirty came through and totally transformed the trajectory of the music industry. Noted by Rolling Stone as one of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time, it is considered the most significant album in the progression of Southern hip-hop of the late1990s. And it has an undeniable influence on popular music to this very day.

On the bone chilling intro to the album, the first voice heard is that of then-incarcerated rapper Smoke D describing his involuntary vacation at Mississippi’s Parchman State Penitentiary.

With his firsthand account of life behind bars sprinkled throughout the album as skits, the Jackson, Miss. native was scheduled to be the third member of the legendary group after a standout verse on breakthrough single “Front, Back, Side to Side” from previous album Super Tight. But Smoke’s music career was browbeaten because of prison stints between him and Pimp C (one-half of UGK with Bun-B) and Pimp’s untimely passing.

All of his past transgressions are now left there in the past. He has learned from mistakes and came out of it all a better, stronger, wiser man. Since his release from prison, Smoke D has continually been cranking out underground classics. He kept his name ringing in the streets with grimy ghetto hymnals such as “I’m Real” featuring Houston-based Screwed Up Click veteran Z-Ro and now-deceased famed Louisiana rapper Vicious, “Free Shots” featuring Bun B and “GODGSTA” featuring Live’.

But more than just pushing rhymes, Smoke D is also pushing peace among his people through non-profit organization TrillLife Foundation. Founded and led by former gang members who have spent the majority of their lives in prisons and attending funerals, TrillLife seeks to improve conditions for Mississippi families living in underserved conditions.

The organization provides youth mentorships, re-entry services to people leaving prison and neighborhood beautification projects. For Smoke D, his mission is more than just the music.

“We’re pushing the music but also using our experiences and the time that we spent in prison to bring communities together through the music,” Smoke D explains. “With TrillLife, we’re doing whatever we can to help each other in this struggle.”

Born Freddie Douglas Southwell in Denver, Colo. and grew up in a small town called Crystal Springs, Miss., he moved to the state’s capitol city of Jackson at age 15. Although Jackson was bigger, faster and more dangerous than where he had come from, young Freddie felt right at home. He dove head first into the streets and joined a well-organized street gang.

“I had a rough childhood that involved a lot of guns,” he expresses. “I pulled a pistol on my stepdad when I was eight years old for hitting my mom. I watched my mom shoot my stepdad; I watched my stepdad shoot my mom. I watched my mom shoot a couple of folks. So when I made the transition to Jackson, I fit right in with all the gunplay and the colors.”

Despite all of his dirty dealings in the streets, Smoke managed to make it college. He had a friend from Crystal Springs who also attended Hinds Community College but pursued a rap career on the side. The friend invited Smoke to travel with him to Lansing, Mich. for his studio session. There, he rubbed elbows with Flint rappers the Dayton Family.

At the time, Smoke D had no intention of being a rapper, but he was always witty with wordplay and could come up with rhymes on the spot off the top of his head. Since he had free studio time to use at his discretion there in Michigan, he recorded his first song “Pimp, Mack, Hustler.”

The song ended up in the hands of Bun B and Pimp C through a club promoter in Jackson. The group had just signed their first record deal with Jive Records and was in town for a show. In a manila envelope, Smoke put his music and a small sack of exotic weed that he brought back from Michigan.

“They call me and tell me to come to the club where they were performing. I’m thinking they’re calling me back for the weed. I get back to the club and it was a white limo parked out back,” Smoke remembers. “I talk with Pimp and Bun, smoking weed, listening to music.”

They liked Smoke’s music so much that they invited him to come to Texas for a few weeks. Those few weeks turned into two years. During that time, he recorded his unforgettable verse on “Front, Back, Side to Side.”

Shortly after the album’s release, Smoke went back to Jackson to visit and wound up catching a double murder charge. Eventually, his charges were dropped to one count of manslaughter, and Smoke ended up serving six years.

While on lockdown, Pimp gave him a digital audio tape filled with beats to write rhymes to. He could also use the device to record his experiences in prison. “I was recording stuff as I saw it like an on-site podcast,” Smoke points out. “I only meant for Pimp to play for people to prove to people that I was alright.”

By the time he got out, however, Pimp was on his way to prison on a probation violation. And while Pimp was locked up, Smoke went in again on drug charges and was handed a 10-year sentence.

“I spent the night at Pimp’s house a couple of days before I got jammed up on the highway in Louisiana with drugs,” Smoke explains. “Three months later, he was dead…I cried for a month.”

Smoke has been out of the belly of the beast for eight years now. Most recently, he just got off probation and is dedicated to bettering his city through community activism. He also hosts a weekly radio show every Wednesday on 90.1 WMPR called A Chance and A Choice.

In his music, he doesn’t curse and uses it as a means to cause a much-needed change in his community. “I don’t curse in my music because there is no need to,” Smoke D explains. “The power that I have with words is more expressive without cursing. It gives me an advantage that other guys don’t have. I can say and do more and communicate some positivity in a slick way that the streets can understand. The base of it is God.”