D. Smith

D. Smith was born to a religious family in Miami, Florida where she fell in love with music through church.[1] She wrote her first song at ten years old for her church choir.[2] By seven years old, she knew was transgender and often fell asleep praying to wake up as a woman.[1]

She graduated highschool and moved to New York City, New York where she began pursuing a career in music.

In Brooklyn, New York, Smith pursued her music career as a producer and collaborated with singer-songwriter Stacey Barthe.[2] Together, they worked with several artists, including Lil’ Wayne.[3] In 2008, D. Smith produced and sang on the track “Shoot Me Down” for Lil Wayne’s rap album Tha Carter iii.[3][4] For her work on the song, she won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album with other collaborators.[5]

Smith also collaborated with other artists prior to her transition, including Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Lloyd, and Ciara.[6] In 2014, she came out as transgender, and her music career fell in decline;[7] Smith cited her transition as the cause for the break.[8]

She appeared on season five of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta for eight episodes in 2016, making her the first trans woman casted on an unscripted reality tv series.[9] The music artist faced heated discussions with fellow cast members on transgender issues, including Waka Flocka and Lil Scrappy.[10] Despite her intention to portray transgender women as non-confrontational, Smith claims she faced pressure from the show’s production team to be more confrontational; she said “I'm not a confrontational person, and I forced myself to be, and it was a complete, utter disaster for myself.” She left the show later in the season, citing it as a regretful experience.[1]

Following her time on Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, Smith became homeless and relocated back to New York, where she couch-surfed with friends and family.[8] During this time, Smith began production on Kokomo City, a documentary following the lives of four black transgender sex-workers. Along with directing, Smith also shot and edited the film herself on a low-budget and without secure housing.[11] Her film debuted at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023[8] and won both awards in the Sundance(Next) category.[12] Smith was signed by the Creative Artists Agency the same-day.[8]

She was listed as one of 2023's Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ People by Out Magazine on their annual Out100 Awards list.[13]

In May 2023, R&B artist Dustin Michael confirmed his relationship with D Smith on Instagram, motivated to make Smith "feel seen and loved without any conditions" following the shooting of Kokomo City star Koko Da Doll.[14]