Shordie Shordie has carved out a really interesting career for himself. His story begins in Northeast Baltimore, around the York Road area at the edge of the Baltimore City limits. In the mid 2010s, he rose to local prominence as a member of the three-man group Peso Da Mafia. The trio’s catchy tracks like “Money Man” and “TSAY” came during a time when Baltimore’s rap scene was reaching a level of promise it had never experienced, and they had a youthful exuberance that compelled people to dance along. The source of the magic in these early songs was Shordie Shordie’s gravely melodies on the hooks, which quickly became addictive listening.

It wouldn’t be long before the clear-cut truth was evident: He commanded too much attention on his own to remain part of a group.

So in 2018, after taking on the nickname “Captain Hook,” Shordie released a short solo introduction to the world, using his new moniker as the title. The album changed his life, mainly thanks to “Bitchuary (Betchua),” a song that finds Shordie reveling in the fact that both he and his love interest are horrible at monogamy but still perfect for each other. Unlike the rest of “Captain Hook,” the song had much in common with what was coming out of West Coast rap: funky synths, quick one-liners and the type of bounce that you mostly see in music videos under the Southern California sunshine.

“Bitchuary” now sits at 93 million views on YouTube and has gone multi-platinum. It helped push Shordie to new heights, and allowed him to collaborate with artists he’d probably only dreamed of working with before. It also pushed him to a new coast.

“Bitchuary” was so successful that, on every album he’s released since 2018, Shordie still toys around with the sound that changed his trajectory. For that reason, the West Coast has effectively adopted him as their own. The majority of his live shows are in California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona — parts of the country the average Baltimorean never travels to unless they’re on vacation. As a result, many people perceive Shordie as a West Coast artist, not a guy from Baltimore.

In his roundup of notable music moments in 2022, Pitchfork rap writer Alphonse Pierre noted that New York artist RX Papi described Shordie Shordie as a “West Coast Max B.” Max B, who’s been incarcerated for over a decade, revolutionized underground New York hip-hop in the late 2000s with a brand of free-flowing, drowned-out melodic rhymes.

Because of this connection the the West, Shordie is rarely on this side of the country anymore, unless he’s performing on stages at Rolling Loud, the biggest current rap festival . But for a quick second next week, Shordie will be back in Maryland as he brings his headlining “On The Block” tour to The Fillmore in Silver Spring on Jan. 21. It may not seem like a big deal, but considering my first introduction to him was as an opening act for fellow Baltimore rapper Tate Kobang at Baltimore Soundstage in 2016, it feels good to see Shordie Shordie make his way back home. But this time he’s the main event.

lawrence.burney@thebaltimorebanner.com