It’s been an action-packed, 10+ year adventure for South London rapper Smiler. From being the only rapper to have collaborated with Lana Del Rey to starting his own publishing label to facilitate local talent, Smiler has always gone above and beyond to do things big.

Raised in the council estates of Woolwich, Smiler spent his teenage years running around the streets before picking up the mic and going on to become one of London’s most intricate rappers. His lyrical dexterity led to a deal with Warner Brother Records where he found himself releasing singles featuring the likes of Ed Sheeran and touring with a host of rappers including Nas & Professor Green. Consistent support throughout his career from DJs such as Charlie Sloth, Zane Lowe, Tim Westwood and MistaJam give you an example of the high esteem in which Smiler is held by the UK rap community. He’s worked with or featured alongside the inner core of UK street sounds including Wretch 32, Giggs, Tinie Blade Brown and Sneakbo.

With a desire to use his creativity in other areas of the business, Smiler took a hiatus from the spotlight to concentrate on his self-funded records & publishing label, The Portfolio Music. However, anyone thinking this would chew away at his hunger to release music would be gravely mistaken. Parallel to his A&R role, Smiler found time to write down his experiences and continue building his body of work. He’s currently sitting on over 150 unreleased songs, including music that will feature on his eagerly anticipated debut album and feature-length film ‘Tonight’, scheduled for release in 2021.The brand-new release God’s Favourite which features fellow Woolwich rap titan Mynature was a long overdue collaboration which was lifted from the summer 2021 album, Gratitude.

With some early success under its belt The Portfolio Music’s team and roster have expanded rapidly, as has the label’s demand. In 2015, Joseph signed a joint venture with Good Soldier Songs that saw the company sign and develop talent together. This partnership bore plenty of fruit with licensing deals inked with 3Beat and All Around The World / Universal, Sony Music  amongst others. More recently, the label has signed and developed the careers of artists including Dr Vades, Folly Rae, Eylie, Mizzy + more and has accumulated over 100 million streams.

Honesty, intelligence and sheer talent are the cornerstones that guarantee that Smiler will be an artist worth keeping an eye on in the near future. As he concludes, ”One thing I promise is to take you on a musical journey and give the very best of myself. On the album you’ll hear me laugh, you’ll hear me cry and you’ll hear my darkest moments. You’ll walk away knowing me.”