Frankie Smith ~ Double Dutch Bus

Frankie Smith Born January 29, 1940 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Died March 8, 2019 (aged 79) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Genres R&B, soul, funk, disco, old school hip hop Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter Instruments Vocals, keyboards Years active 1979–2019 Labels Paramount Records, WMOT Records, Amstate Records Franklyn Leon Smith (January 29, 1940[1] – March 8, 2019 was an American funk musician and R&B/soul songwriter. He was best known for his 1981 hit single "Double Dutch Bus". Smith went to college in Tennessee for elementary education with a minor in music. He became a writer for funk and soul artists such as the O&and The Spinners. In 1972 he would record for Paramount, releasing a single called "Double Dutch" under the name Franklin Franklin, but it failed to become a hit. He was also influential in the careers of the rappers Tone Loc, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg. With his 1981 single "Double Dutch Bus", released by WMOT Records, Smith popularized a nonsensical form of slang (from his song "Slang thang", 1981 WMOT, Records), in which "iz" is placed in the middle of a word (for example, the word "place" becomes "plizace"), or the last letters of a word are replaced with "-izzle" ("sure" becomes shizzle). A type of infix, it found greater popularity later on in hip hop and rap with its usage by Snoop Dogg. Smith died in Philadelphia on March 8, 2019, at the age of 79.