Tom Hardy releases first full rap album as Frankie Pulitzer

Tom Hardy has taken his longest step yet into music with Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, a full-length rap album released under his Frankie Pulitzer alias.

The 15-track project arrived August 28 through Silver Age and pairs Hardy with Czarface, the underground hip-hop group formed by Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck and the duo 7L & Esoteric. Guests include Busta Rhymes, Method Man, El-P and Kendra Morris.

Movie references meet underground rap

The collaboration leans into the overlap between Czarface’s comic-book aesthetic and Hardy’s screen career. Across the record, the actor works in references to films, comic villains and writers, turning familiar pieces of pop culture into part of the album’s dense wordplay.

The most recognizable callback arrives on “Grim-Visaged War.” Hardy recites the opening of Shakespeare’s Richard III in the heavy, muffled voice he used for Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Elsewhere, the record nods to characters including Green Goblin and Doctor Doom, as well as movies such as Bringing Out the Dead.

This is not Hardy’s first appearance with Czarface. He previously contributed to music connected with Venom: Let There Be Carnage and later appeared on the 2024 track “Knull & Void” with Method Man. The new album expands that relationship from guest spots into a complete collaborative release.

A music history that predates Hollywood fame

Hardy’s interest in rap stretches back to his teenage years. In the late 1990s, he recorded material under the name Tommy No. 1 with producer Eddie Too Tall. Those recordings remained unreleased for years before appearing online in 2018.

That background gives the new album more context than a one-off celebrity experiment. Hardy is still best known for performances in Mad Max: Fury Road, Locke, Venom and MobLand, but Frankie Pulitzer has now become a fully developed recording identity.

For Czarface, the release continues a history of high-concept collaborations that has included projects with Ghostface Killah and the late MF DOOM. With Hardy handling a central role across all 15 tracks, Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer turns a surprising partnership into a proper album rather than a brief pop-culture cameo.