Drake Officially Signs Smiley To OVO Sound

BYAron A.Updated on September 26, 202226.8K Views

The OVO team welcomes Smiley to the family following the release of "Over The Top" ft. Drake.

Drake's OVO Sound label has maintained a small but successful team of game-shifting artists. Popcaan, PartyNextDoor, and dvsn are among those currently part of the OVO roster but it's been a while since they've introduced a new artist into the game. However, it seems that's changed this week as they've formally announced the latest artist to join OVO Sound.

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On Friday, Smiley shared his new single, "Over The Top" featuring The Boy. Though Smiley and Drake have been close for some time, this collaboration symbolized the official announcement of Smiley's debut on the OVO roster. Per KTT 2, Smiley now appears as an artist on the OVO Sound website. The song's credits also reveal it was released under OVO Sound and Warner.

Smiley recently sat down with Complex where he explained that Drake's has been keeping a close eye on his moves since 2014. "A long time ago, it was 2014 or something like that. He heard those songs and I guess he paid close attention,” he said of. “And then when I took a break and I came back, I dropped this one song called 'Hit.'"

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRm9ejxjV5w

Smiley's been delivering a streak of bangers recently leading up to the release of "Over The Top." Songs like "In My Zone" and "Moving Different" arrived earlier this year, along with the release of "Name Brand" with LB Spiffy and 6ixbuzz TV.

Check out "Over The Top" below and let us know how you feel about Smiley.

[Via]

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.