Plenty changed for Toronto MC Smiley between the release of the first Buy. or. Bye and Buy or Bye 2, and he takes the opportunity of the first track on the latter, “When I Die,” to update listeners. “6ixBuzz wanna f**k with me/My whole city wanna f**k with me/Your b***h probably f**ked with me/OVO gonna f**k with me.”
He’s hotter in this moment than he’s ever been, thanks in no small part to an association with Drake’s OVO label (the big boss himself popping up for the Tay Keith-produced moshpit-starter “Over the Top”), but Smiley is ready to introduce his view of Toronto in his own slightly sleepy and also well-enunciated delivery. Across Buy or Bye 2, he’s rapping about how quickly life is changing for him (“Moving Different”), the women he encounters (“Krazy Girl”), and a lifestyle his peers don’t know the way he does (“Valet”). He’s called on a handful of other upstarts for features, most notably Pressa, Yung Bleu, and OhGeesy, but Buy or Bye 2 is in large part its principal, an MC who, as his name implies, couldn’t be happier to be where he is.
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