Tom Hardy has released his debut rap album under the alias Frankie Pulitzer, a 15-track collaboration with the hip-hop group Czarface that folds his film career into verses alongside guest spots from Busta Rhymes and Method Man.
“Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer” arrived Friday, pairing Hardy with Czarface, the group formed by Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck and production duo 7L & Esoteric. The record also features El-P of Run the Jewels and vocalist Kendra Morris. Hardy’s connection to the group stretches back years: he first appeared on Czarface material tied to the 2021 release of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and later teamed with Method Man on a 2024 track before committing to a full album.
The most talked-about moment arrives on “Grim-Visaged War,” where Hardy performs the opening lines of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” in the gravelly voice he used to play Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises.” Hardy has said the character’s voice drew from a mix of influences that included Busta Rhymes and Method Man alongside James Brown and actor Richard Burton, a detail that makes their guest appearances on the album feel less like a stunt and more like a callback to how he built the role in the first place.
Elsewhere, the album leans hard into film references. On “Raw Forever,” his track with Busta Rhymes, Hardy nods to Nicolas Cage’s role in Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead,” Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin from the 2002 “Spider-Man,” and Marvel villain Doctor Doom. The Method Man collaboration “Mad Technology” name-checks Stephen King adaptations “Cujo” and “Misery,” while other tracks touch on “Titanic” and “The Matrix.” One verse appears to take aim at fellow actor-rapper Mark Wahlberg.
Critics who covered the release were largely impressed, noting that Hardy holds his own alongside Czarface’s established roster even if his flow lacks the polish of his more seasoned collaborators. The album caps a yearslong buildup of speculation, dating back to 2021, over whether Hardy was the mystery artist performing under the Frankie Pulitzer name.
