Biography
Davood Asgari, better known by his stage name Locksmith, is a rapper of Iranian (Persian) and African-American descent from Richmond, California. He is half of the underground duo The Frontline.
Locksmith is a West Coast rapper and producer who first gained notoriety in the underground hip hop scene through MTV’s MC Freestyle Championship. Locksmith graduated from UC Berkeleywith a Bachelor of Arts degree in African American Studies. In 2009, he did a series of rap battles in Grindtime Rap Battle League. Lock, along with his duo group The Frontline, received commercial radio play and began building a regional buzz.
It wasn’t until he began his solo career in 2010, he started to cultivate a loyal fan base. Locksmith has toured with Joe Budden, Murs, R.A. the Rugged Man, Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks and collaborated with producers 9th Wonder and Ski Beatz. Locksmith has been featured on MTV, BET, Sirius XM’s Shade 45, Hot 97’s “Who’s Next?” concert series and all major hip hop blogs.
Locksmith released a series of mixtapes from 2010 to 2013. His first official album A Thousand Cuts was released April 15, 2014. Previously, Locksmith has collaborated with Funk Volume’s Hopsin and Jarren Benton, as well as, Futuristic and Apathy. Recently, his second album, Lofty Goals, was released on June 30, 2015. The album features features Jarren Benton, Futuristic (rapper), Chris Webby and others.
In March 2015, Locksmith performed at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.
Locksmith previously did battle rap on GrindTimeNow. To date, he has battled the likes of Dizaster, Passwurdz, Daylyt, and Jonny Storm. Locksmith has since retired from battle rapping to focus on music.