Yeah I feel like your fans are definitely hype about the new direction that you're taking.

And that's good because I'm the type of artist that people don't get right away. It takes them f**king like four months to understand one song and they'll be like, 'oh s**t, I get it now. I actually like this.' So to the people that are not going to understand this right away, I'm going to give you guys what you're used to first quarter and we're going to just f**k it up.

So what can fans expect from that drop in the first quarter?

Those ones you'll see more big features. You'll see me more of my f**king back-in-the-day rapping craziness. It's going to be me just having more fun with it. I have way more fun with it because I have so much music and I record a lot. Next year is going to be a very Smiggy year.

A very Smiggy year. I like that. So what inspired the title for Don't Box Me In?

One of the songs I say, "yo, my new tape a different sound, please don't ever box me." From there I'm like, "oh 'Don't Box Me In' was one of the other names that seems like more of this type of vibe." Because even me and my A&R and my team, they tried to go a whole different direction. We had a bunch of different songs, but then we had a lot of songs that are kind of "Spill The Tea" vibes. And then my A&R was trying to go a different route and then we're like, "oh yeah, we're f**king with this." So I'm like, "let's try this." So yeah, that's how that came about.

When was the first time you felt like you were boxed in? Have you ever felt like you were trapped in one genre?

Yeah so I feel like after the Drake song, shout out Drake my f**king bro right there. But you know what? The f**king critiques went to a major platform. So I was just seeing a bunch of stuff and they probably thought -- they didn't take me serious as an artist. They just thought it was a joke or something and they just thought I just came out of nowhere, which I did to the major platforms and stuff. But I've been laying the groundwork in Toronto. I put in crazy work. So it's them just thinking, boxing me in as not a real artist or something. It got me to go all in. You guys don't know me. They don't really understand me too because I don't talk a lot. So they can only just see me from the music they hear and stuff.

That's deep bro. Well, how do you feel like you're going to change that?

We have a tape coming out. It's just music on top of music now. So much music's coming out. People just listen for a bit and it's gone. We're just going to be putting out a lot more music and being in front of my fans more. I've been on my dog Agent's stream, like the AMP guys, and I'm finding out the people understand me more when they see me on these streams and just hear me talk. That's something I'll be interested in doing more -- hopping on people's streams and probably starting my own. It's just like next year we have a big plan.

What would you name your stream if you made one?

I would have to name it something around 'Buy Or Bye' or 'Bobby's Streams.' I don't know.

You should do 'Smiggy Vision' or something.

*laughs* Yeah, that's one thing. When I start doing that, I'll still keep going way harder in my music stuff, but I feel like my streaming show will just go crazy too. But my vision will always be just the music first.

Of course. Now you mentioned before you've got a big plan for 2025.

Yeah, for sure. 2025 I'll drop my next song with Drake too because we have a bunch of hits and s**t. I want to drop a song with Party too. Next year Roy [Woods] for sure. Anyone OVO, I want to drop a song with because I feel like bringing us more together and just kind of taking over next year.

That's dope. Have you heard Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR's joint tape?

Nah, I haven't heard it, but that's going to be some crazy s**t on there.

I feel like those vibes are going needed in the new year. And if you're trying to get the whole squad together, I feel like that's definitely going to be a great move for y'all too. What would an OVO compilation tape sound like to you?

To me, it'll sound so sick. It'll make me get into my R&B bag. Like on "Understand," you see I use autotune on there. I'll start doing more like that. You see 50 cent, "21 questions." I'll be on some s**t like that.

Mani Millss