by Amanda London·December 23, 2021

On “Smile”, the vocalist(s) portrays the role of what can generally be defined as a selfless lover. That is to say that he has come to the realization that his girlfriend, the addressee, would most likely be better off without him. Therefore even though he has feelings for her, he’s willing to peacefully let her go if need be, i.e. ‘doing anything in his power to see her just smile’. 

');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })(); You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Juice WRLD's Smile at Lyrics.org.

And the implication is that the vocalist is akin to a toxic partner, i.e. someone who has issues maturely managing a relationship.

That said, Juice WRLD’s verse comes off as being a lot more penitent than that of The Weeknd’s. The latter rather sounds a lot more like a womanizer whom the addressee unfortunately has fallen in love with. So Abel is telling her that it would be preferable if they broke up now as opposed to proceeding forward with her being under the impression that he’s as much into her as she’s into him. Put simply, the longer they remain a couple, the more pain she’s going to feel upon discovering that The Weeknd is anything but faithful.

Juice predicts own Death

But all of that romantic stuff aside, one particularly interesting part of this song is where Juice WRLD more or less literally predicts his own death, going as far as to state that ‘the devil on his shoulder, telling him he’ll die soon’. And he brings that up, i.e. his imminent demise, as one of the solid reasons why the addressee should let him go sooner rather than later. 

And of course this is not the only instance of Juice having prophesied his passing, if you will. But as noted, it is one of the most literal.

The long and short of “Smile”

Conclusively, this track’s title may be a bit misleading. Normally, we wouldn’t expect a breakup song to be entitled “smile”. But at the end of the day, it is premised on the notion of the vocalist prioritizing the addressee’s happiness over his own. And he knows she isn’t going to be truly happy so long as they remain together, which is why he is calling for the breakup in the first place.

Facts about “Smile”

Interscope Records in conjunction with Grade A Productions released this track on 7 August 2020 as the sixth and final single from “Legends Never Die”, i.e. the first posthumous Juice WRLD album. And this song stands as the first and only collaboration to date between Chicago’s Juice WRLD and The Weeknd, the latter of whom is a singer from Canada.

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To note, this is not a case of a collaboration that came about solely after an artist’s passing. Or more accurately, Juice had actually expressed a desire to team up with The Weeknd a couple of months before his untimely passing.

Juice estimated that if he and The Weeknd ever dropped a track together, it would be “a diamond record”. And whereas “Smile” was not quite that successful it still proved to be an above-average hit, charting in nearly 30 countries, breaking the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and achieving platinum status stateside.

A demo version of this song featuring only Juice, under the working title “Sad”, leaked in 2018.

Interesting to note is that there is also a posthumous Tupac track entitled Smile (1997), in that instance being a collaboration between Pac and Houston rapper Scarface.

The official music video to this track is actually an animated affair, as put together by a visual artist known as KDC Visions.

To further note, Juice’s established girlfriend at the time of his passing is an Instagram star named Ally Lotti. And she has stated that The Weeknd personally contacted her to make sure that she approved of “Smile”.

This track was produced by frequent Juice WRLD collaborator Nick Mira alongside Cxdy and Taz Taylor.