The Weeknd releases Juice WRLD collaboration ‘Smile’

Late rapper previously wrote the duo ‘would make a diamond record’ together

The Weeknd has shared his collaboration with the late rapper Juice WRLD.

Juice WRLD wrote on Twitter last September that he and The Weeknd ”would make a diamond record” together.

Called “Smile”, the new single was accompanied by a lyric video featuring a man painting both musicians on canvas.

The tune itself offers emotionally charged lyrics from Juice WRLD, delivered over a piano backing and trap beat.

The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, comes in for the second verse.

It has not been revealed whether the track was completed before or after Juice WRLD’s death.

Juice WRLD, real name Jarad Higgins, died of a seizure on 8 December 2019. He was 21 years old.

“Smile” arrives shortly after the posthumous release of Juice WRLD’s No 1 record Legends Never Die, which was released seven months after the artist’s death.

Legends Never Die recently opened with the largest first week of sales for any album in 2020.

According to representatives, the record is now the highest-charting posthumous album to debut on the Billboard 200 chart since 1997, which saw the posthumous releases of Notorious BIG’s Life After Death and 2pac’s R U Still Down.