Tom Hardy is adding rapper to his already packed résumé. The Venom star has released his first full-length rap album with hip-hop supergroup Czarface. However, Hardy is not exactly performing under his famous name. Instead, the actor steps behind the mic as his mysterious rap alter ego, Frankie Pulitzer.
Tom Hardy’s Frankie Pulitzer persona joins Czarface for the actor’s 15-song rap debut
Hardy and Czarface released Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer on Friday, Aug. 28. The debut rap album includes 15 tracks and runs for about 47 minutes.
Czarface consists of Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck and hip-hop duo 7L & Esoteric. The project also features appearances from Busta Rhymes, Method Man and El-P.
Hardy performs throughout the album as Frankie Pulitzer, a masked character he has quietly used for years. Fans can hear the persona on Czarface’s official “Brothers Grimm” video, which arrived ahead of the album.
The actor also brings some of his movie history into the music. On “Grim-Visaged War,” Hardy delivers part of Shakespeare’s Richard III in the voice he used for Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
His Venom connection runs even deeper. Frankie Pulitzer previously appeared with Czarface on music tied to Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He later joined Method Man on “Knull & Void” for Venom: The Last Dance.
Hardy is also returning to the Venom universe for an upcoming animated project.
Still, Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer is hardly Hardy’s first attempt at rapping. He recorded music as a teenager under the name Tommy No. 1.
A 1999 mixtape he made with Edward Tracy eventually surfaced in 2018. Hardy had previously joked that his teenage rap career was a “hard sell” and admitted he did not think he was very good.
This time, though, Frankie Pulitzer has an entire album to his name. Hardy’s side career has officially gone well beyond a hidden hobby.
