Tom Hardy in his Frankie Pultizer mask. Credit: Screengrab via Czarface/YouTube
English actor Tom Hardy is a rapper now, and his new album with hip-hop supergroup Czarface has a brief but notable nod to historic Ybor City.
Czarface, which consists of Boston duo 7L and Esoteric, as well as Wu-Tang icon Inspectah Deck, released its latest album Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, over the weekend and if you didn’t guess it, Tom Hardy raps under the pseudonym Frankie Pulitzer.
In the video for “Mad Technology” featuring Method Man, Hardy is almost unrecognizable in a full face mask, while he raps the lines:
“Frankie, me, myself and I is who I’m speaking for
Sprinkle dope across the verse, shout to Shameik Moore
Catch me out in Ybor City with a sweet whore
Try to photograph me, and nah, I take the detour”
Besides the little shout out to actor Shameik Moore, who voiced Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse animated films, and also starred in the the movie “Dope” among other things, Hardy clearly wants you to know that if you ever see him in Ybor City with a “sweet whore” do not take his photograph.
The 15-track album features notable rap names like Busta Rhymes, Method Man and EL-P, and it’s not a stretch to say this is a solid rap album from front to back.
Neither the group or Hardy really advertised that the “Dark Knight Rises” and “Venom” star had a secret rap life, but rumors have been circulating since at least 2021 that Czarface was collaborating with a mysterious new rapper named Frankie Pulitzer, widely hinted to be Tom Hardy.
This isn’t the first time Ybor City has gotten some love in popular music. Jason Isbell once referenced one of his many benders in a lyric (“Damn near strangled by my appetite / In Ybor City on a Friday night / Couldn’t even stand up right”) in the song “Travelling Alone” from his Grammy-winning album Southeastern.
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This article appears in August 27 – September 02, 2026.
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