Who is Nardo Wick??

Coming out of Jacksonville, Florida, Horace Bernard Walls III, better known as Nardo Wick, has exploded onto the rap scene. The 20 year old has made an extremely fast come up, releasing

Nardo Wick

his first single in 2020 and first album in 2021, many are wondering how he could have blown up this fast. Some even claim he is an industry plant, but I think his talent speaks for itself. He may not be the most original artist to come out recently, but he doesn’t need to be. He’s been releasing banger after banger since he came out and he doesn’t show any signs of stopping. I can tell you from first hand experience “Who Want Smoke?” is a song that was on repeat in every football locker room. You could cut through the aggression in his music with a knife. I can’t wait to dive deep into the life and early career of Nardo.

I had to dive pretty deep to find anything about Nardo’s early life due to the fact that he has so recently blown up. The best information I could find came out of a Big Facts interview. He starts off by discussing (through an extremely thick Florida accent) how he was able to catch peoples attention. He started off by paying blogs and different Instagram pages to post snippets

Nardo Wick Pictured in a music video

of his upcoming releases, all out of his own pocket. He said was aware of his talent and said that if he can get some number of people to hear it, at least half would like it. He was asked how he was able to stand out from the rest of the Florida crowd and simply responded with the fact that he was just being himself and the fact that his voice was unique. He also credits staying out of street politics to allow him to collab with whoever he pleases. The interviewers begin asking him questions about his youth at this point, bringing up the fact that he used to be a football player. He stopped playing at the age of 15 because he already knew he wanted to be a rapper at that point. From this point on he was able to focus on his music career and continue to improve his craft.

Flash forward to 2020 when, at the age of 18, Nardo dropped his debut single “Lolli“. This was followed by two more singles to end off the year. It is incredible to see that Nardo only released three official singles before dropping his breakout single in 2021, “Who Want Smoke?”  This song absolutely blew up and became an instant anthem. Every riced out car with a humongous sub was guaranteed to be playing this song as they pass you. It was followed by another single. This barrage of releases put Nardo on the radar of other artists, including 42 Dugg who featured Wick on a song off the deluxe version of “Free Dem Boyz“. On October 8, 2021, Wick released

Cover of Who Want Smoke remix

another version of “Who Want Smoke” featuring the likes of G Herbo, 21 Savage, and Lil Durk. This remix boosted the popularity of the song, allowing it to debut at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nardo released his debut album on December 3, 2021, just four days after the release of another single, “Me or Sum” featuring Future and Lil Baby. On July 22, 2022 Nardo released a deluxe version of the album.

Nardo has continued to release singles after his album instant success and shows no signs of stopping. It is apparent that Wick has an intense drive to be great and he is on the perfect path to end up as one of the greats. His punchy flow combined with creative beats are a combination that can take him far. I, along with many rap fans, are excited to see how he progresses and are awaiting his next release.