Tom Hardy releases rap debut as Frankie Pulitzer with Czarface; resurrects Bane voice on one track

# What happened

Tom Hardy released his first official rap album under the name Frankie Pulitzer. Titled Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, the 15-track record arrived on Friday, Aug. 28 via the Silver Age label. It's a full-length collaboration with Czarface, the hip-hop collective made up of Inspectah Deck (of Wu-Tang Clan) and underground duo 7L & Esoteric.

# What the music contains

Other songs make explicit pop-culture and film references. "Raw Forever," which features Busta Rhymes, name-checks Nicolas Cage and Martin Scorsese's 1999 film Bringing Out the Dead and invokes characters and villains such as Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Marvel's Doctor Doom. On "Mad Technology," Hardy references Stephen King titles Cujo and Misery, including a lyric that mentions Misery star Kathy Bates.

# Collaborators and guest spots

The album's primary collaborators are the members of Czarface (Inspectah Deck with 7L & Esoteric). Guest appearances include Busta Rhymes, Method Man and El-P. Czarface's previous collaborations include work with Ghostface Killah and the late MF DOOM, situating this release within their established pattern of guest-heavy projects.

Hardy's musical history stretches back to a 1999 mixtape titled Falling On Your Arse In 1999, which surfaced online in 2018. Reports that he was working on a grime album surfaced in 2018 as well, though that project did not materialize.

# Why this matters

The release positions Hardy's Frankie Pulitzer persona as an ongoing artistic thread linking his film identity and past musical experiments. Collaborating with Czarface gives the project clear roots in underground and Wu-Tang-affiliated hip-hop, and the presence of high-profile guests like Busta Rhymes, Method Man and El-P signals the album's intent to engage hip-hop listeners beyond novelty curiosity.

# Takeaway for readers

If you want to hear Tom Hardy extend his public persona into music, Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer is the record to listen to first: it foregrounds Hardy's performative choices (including the Bane-style delivery), pairs him with established underground hip-hop producers and MCs, and leans heavily on film and literary references that connect to Hardy's screen work.