Smiley has a brand-new mindset heading into 2025.
The OVO Sound signee spent the past few years building an international fanbase with his slew of hits from "Free Baby" — the outro of his 2018 debut EP Buy or Bye that Drake co-signed — to last year's "Tonka Truck." Smiggy has served up plenty of clever street-inspired bars about his life in Toronto and beyond on projects like YYZ-LAX (2020), Buy or Bye 2 (2021), and his previous mixtape I Did What I Did. After all the fan favorites he's shared over the years, Smiley wants to take his music and career to a new level with his upcoming project.
"I named it Don't Box Me In because I just decided to go in a very different direction," Smiley tells iHeartRadio. "So it's not just a trap beat. Some of the songs I use auto-tune a bit and normally I wouldn't use it. So it's just going a whole different direction."
Smiley, born Alexander Eli Morand, also aims to be more transparent in his upcoming record. Back in September, Smiggs dropped his single "Spill The Tea," in which he spits genuine bars about his struggles while he was growing up over a sample of Sean Leon's "Memories (Reprise)." In the song produced by KK McFly Money Montage and Halfademics, Smiley pulls back the curtains to reveal what life was like when he first started rapping. He begins by shouting out his childhood inspiration, Lil Wayne, before he admits he didn't have many friends on his bus in high school.
"No one in the school bus f**ked with me/So f**k them all, I’m only really here with me," he spits in the chorus.
Later in the song, Smiley reflects on how bad he was at school and rapping. He even questions why his friends didn't support his hustle. The 27-year-old artist spills his own tea on the record in an attempt to show fans an authentic side of him that they have never seen before. It's one of several ways he plans to break free of the box his critics put him in.
"I've been laying the groundwork in Toronto," Smiley says. "I put in crazy work. So it's them just thinking, boxing me in as not a real artist or something. It got me to go all in."
He delivered his second single "Understand" a few weeks after "Spill The Tea." The Pooh Beatz & Alex Lustig-produced banger has more of the hard-hitting trap sound his fans are used to with a unique flow. If there's one thing you need to understand about this record, it's the way Smiley stands on business. He proudly declares he's a top dog without fear of judgment from his opps.
"Finally kicked the doors down with my dawgs, I'm talkin' B&E/B***h I feel like Champagne, b***h I feel like Weezy we," he raps.
Smiley believes his upcoming 7-track project will help provide more insight into his come-up as an artist. He says his new project is his "favorite music" thus far, but it's not the only body of work he's got on deck. Don't Box Me In is just the beginning of what he's got in store for 2025, which he claims will be a very Smiggy year. During our chat, Smiley opens up about his new album, teases an upcoming collaboration with Drizzy, reveals his aspirations to launch a livestream channel, and more.
Don't Box Me In is scheduled to arrive later this month. Scroll below to read our conversation with Smiley.
It's been about a year or so since we last spoke. The last time we talked was when you were about to drop your I Did What I Did project. So what's new man?
SMILEY: Yo, that was a long time ago, s**t. Right now we've got some new energy. I have a tape called Don't Box Me In coming out on November 29th. We have two singles out already, which is "Spill The Tea and "Understand." Right now we're just about to just go crazy with this release.
Let's talk about "Spill The Tea." In your recent Instagram caption, you said this is chapter one of your new book. What's the concept behind that? Just by listening to the record, I can tell it seems very personal to you.
Yeah, it is very personal and it's so crazy. That was the last song that I recorded for the tape. It just became the super lead single. When I was recording "Spill The Tea," it was a winter night snowing in my room. I was just looking out the window just right in my feelings and that beat was just kind of like a different beat than I'd normally go for. So it has a sample in it... But after this tape, chapter two. Right away. I'm looking to do a first quarter drop right away, just full rap and stuff. This plan to just drop so much music. That's why this tape took long to come out, but now it's coming out so fast. Right after each other. "Spill The Tea" came out, "Understand" and now the team's about to drop. And then first quarter again. Whole next chapter, new music.
We'll come back to the team's drops in a few. What's something that you want the people to understand about your new project?
I want them to understand that, bro, I'm here to stay. I'm here to be one of the f**king greets and yo, I can be versatile and just watch. You're going to see me coming and then you got to understand it.
Yeah I feel like your fans are definitely hype about the new direction that you're taking.
And that's good because I'm the type of artist that people don't get right away. It takes them f**king like four months to understand one song and they'll be like, 'oh s**t, I get it now. I actually like this.' So to the people that are not going to understand this right away, I'm going to give you guys what you're used to first quarter and we're going to just f**k it up.
So what can fans expect from that drop in the first quarter?
Those ones you'll see more big features. You'll see me more of my f**king back-in-the-day rapping craziness. It's going to be me just having more fun with it. I have way more fun with it because I have so much music and I record a lot. Next year is going to be a very Smiggy year.
A very Smiggy year. I like that. So what inspired the title for Don't Box Me In?
One of the songs I say, "yo, my new tape a different sound, please don't ever box me." From there I'm like, "oh 'Don't Box Me In' was one of the other names that seems like more of this type of vibe." Because even me and my A&R and my team, they tried to go a whole different direction. We had a bunch of different songs, but then we had a lot of songs that are kind of "Spill The Tea" vibes. And then my A&R was trying to go a different route and then we're like, "oh yeah, we're f**king with this." So I'm like, "let's try this." So yeah, that's how that came about.
When was the first time you felt like you were boxed in? Have you ever felt like you were trapped in one genre?
Yeah so I feel like after the Drake song, shout out Drake my f**king bro right there. But you know what? The f**king critiques went to a major platform. So I was just seeing a bunch of stuff and they probably thought -- they didn't take me serious as an artist. They just thought it was a joke or something and they just thought I just came out of nowhere, which I did to the major platforms and stuff. But I've been laying the groundwork in Toronto. I put in crazy work. So it's them just thinking, boxing me in as not a real artist or something. It got me to go all in. You guys don't know me. They don't really understand me too because I don't talk a lot. So they can only just see me from the music they hear and stuff.
That's deep bro. Well, how do you feel like you're going to change that?
We have a tape coming out. It's just music on top of music now. So much music's coming out. People just listen for a bit and it's gone. We're just going to be putting out a lot more music and being in front of my fans more. I've been on my dog Agent's stream, like the AMP guys, and I'm finding out the people understand me more when they see me on these streams and just hear me talk. That's something I'll be interested in doing more -- hopping on people's streams and probably starting my own. It's just like next year we have a big plan.
What would you name your stream if you made one?
I would have to name it something around 'Buy Or Bye' or 'Bobby's Streams.' I don't know.
You should do 'Smiggy Vision' or something.
*laughs* Yeah, that's one thing. When I start doing that, I'll still keep going way harder in my music stuff, but I feel like my streaming show will just go crazy too. But my vision will always be just the music first.
Of course. Now you mentioned before you've got a big plan for 2025.
Yeah, for sure. 2025 I'll drop my next song with Drake too because we have a bunch of hits and s**t. I want to drop a song with Party too. Next year Roy [Woods] for sure. Anyone OVO, I want to drop a song with because I feel like bringing us more together and just kind of taking over next year.
That's dope. Have you heard Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR's joint tape?
Nah, I haven't heard it, but that's going to be some crazy s**t on there.
I feel like those vibes are going needed in the new year. And if you're trying to get the whole squad together, I feel like that's definitely going to be a great move for y'all too. What would an OVO compilation tape sound like to you?
To me, it'll sound so sick. It'll make me get into my R&B bag. Like on "Understand," you see I use autotune on there. I'll start doing more like that. You see 50 cent, "21 questions." I'll be on some s**t like that.