Delorean feat. Wretch 32
Set to establish himself as one of 2012’s most vital new talents, South London rapper Smiler will release his first Warner Bros. Records single Delorean as a free download on February 29th. The track will feature on his latest mixtape All I Know which will be available on the same day.
Produced by Nutty P (Professor Green, Sway), ‘Delorean’ sees Smiler’s charismatic lyrical flow addressing society exactly as he sees it. Complete with a powerful hook courtesy of Nutty P, a further guest performance from Wretch 32 and an insistent, pulsating bassline, ‘Delorean’ was named as Zane Lowe’s Next Hype when it was initially unveiled in January 2012. Another version of the track featuring the talents of Lady Leshurr which was premiered on Mistajam’s 1Xtra show will also be available.
Currently working with the production expertise of Futurecut, Show N Prove and Self Taught, ‘All I Know’ will be Smiler’s first mixtape since his underground smash Clarity was released in 2010. The tracks featured on ‘All I Know’ reiterate Smiler’s innate ability to address the issues which inform his social environment, while Smiler’s interpretation of Shirley Bassey’s ‘Hey Big Spender’ features additional vocals from Lana Del Rey. The mixtape also features further collaborations with Crafty and Bigz and can be previewed here.
The launch of the mixtape was previewed with the release of Smiler’s new video for ‘All I Know / Sure Shot’ which was directed byMorgan Keyz (Dappy’s ‘Tarzan’) and debuted on SB.TV.
In person, Smiler will happily take you on a journey through the evolution of nineties East Coast rap, how Nas’s flow inspired Tupac andBiggie to change their styles, and his admiration for everyone from Mase to AZ to Mobb Deep. But when he began spitting himself, he stopped listening to the artists he loved. “I realised that the more I listened to people, the more I started to sound like them,” he says.
Smiler is an artist for whom doing things his way is vitally important. Years of self-promoting his music has created a fiercely independent spirit – what other rapper could reference Amir Khan, Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ and favela flick ‘City of God’ in a single song and then on the next track address the social issues that inform his environment? Honesty, intelligence and sheer talent are the cornerstones that guarantee that Smiler will be an artist worth keeping an eye on throughout 2012.
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March Shows
26th – Scala, London
27th – XOYO, London
28th – HMV Institute, Birmingham
29th – Club Academy, Manchester
