Locksmith

Davood Ali Asgari, better known by his stage name Locksmith, (born September 29, 1984), is an American rapper from Richmond, California. He is half of the former underground duo The Frontline, which pioneered the "New Bay" resurgence movement in the Bay Area in the 2000s. who had immigrated from Iran, and his mother was African American from Chicago, originally from Tennessee. In 2010, his mother died.

Locksmith went to De Anza High School in Richmond, and attended University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated in African American Studies. He played basketball during his youth, through which he met his childhood friend Left. He worked there, part-time, for a decade before moving on to concentrate on his solo music career. The event was the first-ever televised battle rap tournament. Locksmith then made it to the "elite eight" live telecast on May 17, judged by Method Man, Ludacris and Kevin Liles. Despite his strong performance, he finished as the runner-up in the championship final decided by votes by viewers at home. The polling numbers and percentages were never shown. Speaking back on the upset, he states "I was a little surprised, but actually I expected it. Everybody kinda felt like there was a bias, which there was."

The Frontline Locksmith met his childhood friend Left on the basketball court of their junior high school. Led by The Frontline and Balance at the forefront, the New Bay movement included The Team, Mistah FAB, The Federation, Certified Ryders, San Quinn, F.E., and Esinchill. It gained further momentum in 2003 following Locksmith's appearance on MTV's MC Battle in which he shouted out the "New Bay" in front of a nationwide audience. On May 10, 2005, The Frontline released their second studio album, Now You Know, which peaked at #46 on the Independent Albums chart. In 2007, they released their third and final album, titled Left & Lock, on September 25.

Solo career In March 2009, it was announced that Locksmith was working on a solo album titled Frank the Rabbit. It was slated to be entirely produced by E-A-Ski.

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, SiriusXM'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. His second album, Lofty Goals, was released on June 30, 2015. The album features Jarren Benton, Futuristic, Chris Webby and others.

In March 2015, Locksmith performed at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.

Locksmith released his 3rd album "Olive Branch" on March 31, 2017.

Discography Studio albums A Thousand Cuts (2014) Lofty Goals (2015) Olive Branch (2017) Ali (2018) No Atheists in Foxholes (2024)

Mixtapes The Locktape (2010) I Am Lock (2011) Labyrinth (2012) The Green Box (2013) The Lock Sessions (2016) The Lock Sessions Vol. 2 (2021) The Lock Sessions Vol. 3 (2022)

Extended plays The Rare Form EP (2009)

Collaboration albums Embedded (with Ski Beatz) (2011) No Question (with Apollo Brown) (2018) Wine & Circus (with the Heatmakerz) (2025)

Compilation albums Lock Lyft: Volume 1 (2024)