Young artist builds music production company from the ground up


A photo of Allen Smith smiling against a brick background.
Allen Smith released his first solo album “Blood Orange” in August, two years after founding Esoteric Creations. Photo Courtesy of Allen Smith.

Allen Smith, who always wore headphones and listened to music as a kid, started playing the piano when he was 5 years old. By the time he was a senior in high school, he started his own digital music production company. Under it, he released his first solo album this year, “Blood Orange.”

Smith, a sophomore majoring in cognitive science, began uploading mix-tracks on Soundcloud when he was 16 while he worked as a DJ. A year later Smith, his sister Angel, and his cousins created the company Esoteric Creations in 2018. He described his music production company as family oriented, since they are all related to one another and they used to create music whenever they hung out.  

“So we all really like self-meditated and introspective[ly] figured-out like who we are, what we want to do in the world, what influence we want to have in this world, and they all really like lined up, like we all really had the same passions,” Smith said. “So we said, OK, like, let’s officially start [ESO] for each other.”

ESO specializes in mixing and mastering music, but the team also writes their own lyrics and produces various hip-hop and R&B songs, with some jazz vibes. Smith runs production and marketing for the company but is also one of its recording artists.

According to Smith, the company has a transcendent aspect that aims to brighten people’s lives. Allen said the company is dedicated to uplifting artists across all mediums, including visual and digital arts and music, to create positive energy within the community.

“It’s so people can feel connected, it’s so people can feel understood, and like they’re not alone in whatever they’re going through,” Smith said.  

Smith was born in Chicago and raised in Northwest Indiana. Throughout high school, he experienced racial aggressions, as he and his sister were two of the few Black students at his school.

“I’ve had friends [in high school] who’ve been called the n-word, I’ve been called the n-word before,” Smith said. “There’s students walking around with Confederate flags on their shirts, on their belts, on their trucks and meeting in the parking lot of the school, all of them with their trucks, it’s just like, intimidation.”

Continuous striving forward, Smith applied to many universities during his last year of high school and finally arrived at USC. He said he was inspired by his sister, who was admitted to Stanford University.

At the University, Smith is a member of the USC Concerts Committee and helps set up and promote welcome back events and concerts. 

“I think [Allen is] just so passionate about music that he wants to be in every part of that process,” ESO co-founder Angel Smith, a senior at Stanford and Allen’s sister, said. “Whether that’s putting on events, or making them be or freestyling with an artist – he wants to be there if there’s music he’s there, and so, I think that passion for him is what drives him in every facet of his life.”

While Smith was working on a group album titled “Genesis,” he also released individual tracks that gained traction on social media, prompting him to create his own album.

In 2020, two years after founding ESO, Smith released his debut solo album “Blood Orange” on Aug. 1 on Spotify. The album combines hip-hop and R&B genres on tracks such as “God is a Black Woman” and “Daydream.”

“I made “Blood Orange,” basically, so that people can feel connected and people can feel understood,” Smith said.

Smith created “God Is a Black Woman” in collaboration with his sister Angel to honor the Black women in his life, including his mother, sister and women leaders in Black rights movements throughout history. The pair based the song off one of its lines,Tell me that a woman ain’t God, when a woman gave me everything I got.” 

Smith also spoke about the song “Daydream,” and how it derived from the times he feels alone, even when surrounded by many people. He hopes people can relate to it while being inspired and feeling a sense of connection. 

For the next few years, Smith aims to expand his company and wants to gather, promote and manage artists. He said he cannot imagine his life without music and that is what makes him feel whole and happy. 

“I believe that I could be the CEO, the lead marketer of ESO and people are going to look at me and they’re going to think about my music,” Smith said. “They’re going to think about the great positive messages that go along with my music.” 

Smith continues to make individual tracks, while he is currently helping other ESO artists grow and create their own albums. For the next few months Smith is taking more of a leadership role as he is working on the production side of his company. 

“I’m still making beats,” Smith said. “I’m writing verses daily. But those releases may not be in the form of an album, at least right now, just because we have other albums and projects coming up. But they will almost certainly be in the form of like individual release tracks or like singles that I plan.”