Alexander Eli Morand (born 1997), known professionally as Smiley (formerly Smiley_61st), is a Canadian rapper. He signed with hometown native

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's record label

OVO Sound OVO Sound (short for October's Very Own) is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2012 by rapper Drake, producer 40, and manager Oliver El-Khatib. The label operated as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group until 2022, after which it ...

, an imprint of

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in 2021. In July of that year, he released the single " Over the Top" (featuring Drake), which peaked at number 13 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

and number 57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Career

Smiley began rapping in 2014 with rap crew ''Garden Gang'' after seeing his friends freestyling. In 2015, he released his track "9 on Me" which captured the attention of record producer

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da (a play on Boy Wonder) is a Canadian record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. He is an in-house producer for Drake's OVO Sound label and has prod ...

. His track "Garden Girl" also helped him gain traction. He first interacted with Drake in 2017. In 2018 he released his debut mixtape ''Buy or Bye''. Also in 2018, Drake cited Smiley's lyrics during his first public statement following the release of diss track

The Story of Adidon ''"''The Story of Adidon''"'' is a diss track written and recorded by American rapper Pusha T. It was released on May 29, 2018 on SoundCloud, amidst his feud with Canadian rapper Drake. The track is a response to Drake's " Duppy Freestyle". The ...

by American rapper

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

. In July 2021, he released Over the Top, collaboration with Drake produced by American record producer Tay Keith. In November 2021, he released his debut album ''Buy or Bye 2'', the sequel to his 2018 project with appearances from Yung Bleu, Duvy, Drake, Pressa and OhGeesy.

Musical style

Jordan Darville, writing for

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

, describes Smiley's style in the following manner: "Stark street bars rapped with a cadence that's light but fills the room with its presence, like a cloud of good weed."

Discography

Studio Albums

Mixtapes

Legal issues

In 2015, Smiley was in jail for a gun-related charge.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smiley Living people 21st-century Canadian rappers Rappers from Toronto OVO Sound artists Canadian trap musicians 1997 births