AKEEM SMITH &
THE DANCEHALL QUEENS
With “No Gyal Can Test”, the Artist and Stylist Pays Homage to his Bombastic Roots
“I still feel like the same bitch at Gold Bar.” Akeem Smith is reminiscing about the first time we saw each other in 2009. I was dancing with some friends at the gilded lounge in NoLita, when Akeem strutted in—wrapped in a translucent plastic trench coat, a teeny-tiny baby backpack, and glistening finger waves in his hair studded with crystals. It was one of those nights where you just kept bumping into someone and with every turn a little bit of vodka and soda was spilled. Akeem was only in high school, but somehow was the best-dressed person in the club.
Then (and just as much now) Smith moves through the world with a certain aplomb and invincibility, whether in jeans and kitten heels and even more so, when cloaked in a full-on look. This flair for the dramatic and ease of being, even when squarely in the gaze of the room, is damn near a birthright for Smith. He grew up between New York City and Kingston, Jamaica. It was the bombastic women of the 90’s Dancehall scene who shaped the way Smith saunters across a room, whether seen or unseen.
Though Smith is most known for his inventive styling work—bringing to life runway collections for Hood By Air, Helmut Lang, Yeezy, and The Row—he has always maintained an artistic practice, specifically one that connected him to his Dancehall roots.
