Blog

He was just getting started. Pop Smoke was on the path to an illustrious career of global recognition and super stardom. The first time I ever heard a Pop Smoke song was last July. I was watching music videos on YouTube and I saw that a song of his called, “Welcome To The Party” had about 3 million views at the time. Today the video has over 65 million views and was widely considered to be the song of Summer 2019. The song was Pop Smoke’s big leap into the limelight as he went on to drop his first mixtape, “Meet The Woo” on July 26th. Meet The Woo highlighted tracks such as, Dior, Welcome To The Party, Meet The Woo, Scenario, & PTSD. It peaked at #105 on the Billboard 200, but Pop Smoke was picking up steam throughout the country. While “Welcome To The Party” was the jumpstart to his career, “Dior” pushed it to a whole other level. The song peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum this May. Pop Smoke wasn’t just picking up steam in the US, he was starting to gain global attention, especially in the UK. Pop Smoke is well-known for his drill beat selection and his unique voice. He brought the London drill sound to the US and revolutionized it. Collaborating with British producers 808 Melo and AXL Beats, Pop Smoke was the leader of the drill sound in America. In December he was featured on Travis Scott’s label mixtape on the song, “GATTI” with Travis himself. The song currently has almost 45 million views on YouTube.

Everything that Pop Smoke was doing was hinting towards a career with longevity in the rap game. The anticipation was building towards his project, “Meet The Woo 2”. Pop Smoke was previewing snippets from the album and rumors were circulating that Quavo & A Boogie were going to be featured. The project dropped on February 7th and it debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, an insane jump from his first mixtape. Meet The Woo 2 would eventually be Pop Smoke’s first gold project. Pop Smoke was on top of the world, finally seeing his dreams come true. He was scheduled to start his, “Meet The Woo Tour” on March 2nd in DC, with several cities already sold out.

Twelve days after the release of Meet The Woo 2, Bashar Barakah Jackson (a.k.a Pop Smoke) was tragically shot and killed in Los Angeles, California. I’ll never forget waking up and checking my phone and seeing that notification on my phone. It felt like death just couldn’t let loose of its grip on people that I looked up to. In December it was Juice Wrld, in January it was Kobe Bryant, and February took Pop Smoke from the world. It just hurt me to see that he was just starting to flourish and there was so much of his life left. He was even younger than me which just gave me a reality check that I need to appreciate my time on this Earth no matter the obstacles in front of me. Life is fragile and I hope to make my own impact before it is my time to go. Just yesterday Pop Smoke’s posthoumous album, “Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon” was released. It was his first and final album. 2020 has definitely been the worst year of my life, just so much going on in the world that’s been mentally and physically draining. I am tired of seeing innocent people getting killed by police and nothing happening. I’m tired of seeing families having to grieve about a loved one’s death while we have people with 0 IQ saying, “All Lives Matter”. I just pray that the second half of 2020 is a lot less painful than the first half. I can only hope that actual change will come. And remember, you cannot say Pop and forget the Smoke 💫.