Album of the Day — February 19
Pop Smoke — Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon — 2020
Pop Smoke — Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon — 2020
19.February.2021
Pop Smoke
Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
2020
To understand Pop Smoke (born Bashar Barakah Jackson), we must first talk about “Drill” music.
Stay with me here — this is for the clueless people like I was.
Drill is a style of rap that is a sub-genre of “Trap” music. Trap originated in the South in the early 90s. This sub-genre of rap gets its name from the Atlanta slang word “trap” — a place where drugs are sold illegally. Its lyrical content is centered on drug use and urban violence.
So, drill is a sub-genre of trap.
Drill originated in the South Side of Chicago sometime around 2010. Trap may focus on drug use and urban violence; Drill takes it one step beyond — its lyrics are dark, violent, and nihilistic.
Unlike traditional rap, drill can often be associated with the rappers’ lack of concern with metaphor or wordplay.
To a large extent, Drill is a regionalized sub-genre. Where the artist comes from identifies the style of drill. For example, there is UK Drill from England, French Drill from France, Australian Drill from Australia, etc.
Regardless of region, musically, Drill is identified by its raw, dark sound that accompanies the lyrics focused on anger and violence. In a 2012 article from The New York Times:
“The instinct is to call this [drill] tough, unforgiving and concrete-hard music joyless, but in truth it’s exuberant in its darkness.”
So, there you have it. Drill defined in 175 words (more or less).
Born in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Pop Smoke was a Brooklyn Drill artist.
Unfortunately, Pop Smoke had a very brief career.
He released his first single, “Mpr (Panic Part 3 Remix),” but would break out with his 2019 single “Welcome to the Party,” produced by UK drill producer 808Melo. Eschewing the traditional instrumentation associated with Chicago drill, Smoke worked with many UK drill artists and producers who preferred a minimal and aggressive approach.
By April of 2019, Pop Smoke had become friends with producer Rico Beats, who then arranged a meeting with Steven Victor of Victor Victor Records, a Universal Music Group subsidiary. By the end of April, Pop Smoke had signed, and Victor Victor released, the breathrough “Welcome to the Party.”
Meet the Woo, Pop Smoke’s debut mixtape, was released in July of 2019. On February 7, 2020, he released his second mixtape, Meet the Woo 2 — this debuted on number seven on the Billboard 200.
Twelve days later, on February 19, 2020, five men broke into the home that Pop Smoke was renting from The Real Housewives star Teddi Mellencamp (daughter of John Mellencamp) and her husband, Edwin Arroyave, in Hollywood Hills, California.
Pop Smoke was shot twice in the chest and died a few hours later at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Released on July 3, 2020, this posthumous album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon is the debut and only album by Pop Smoke. A deluxe version of this album was released on July 20, which would’ve been Pop Smoke’s 21st birthday.
Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon lists some 32 separate producers across 19 tracks (the deluxe version contains an additional 15 tracks). It’s also loaded with far too many various collaborations to list here. That said, the difficult task of corraling all of this was taken up by 50 Cent, who served as the executive producer.
Despite the array of producers and collaborations, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon achieves a level of consistency seldom found on any pop or rap album, even those with one producer.
The finished album ends up sounding as it is its own sound by mixing various genres that represented Pop Smoke’s interest. It sounds like pop, rap, R&B, mixed with dub …all put through a bong.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 — making Pop Smoke the first hip hop act to posthumously debut at number one with a debut studio album (a rather grim and odd statistic).
ALL 19 tracks on Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon charted on the Billboard Hot 100 following its first week of release, and the album would return to number one on the Billboard 200 in October 2020, after a three-month break.
Reviews of Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon were mixed. David Aaron Brake from HipHopDX said: “Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon offers a fleeting peek into the artist Pop would become — beyond Drill, beyond Brooklyn, beyond even the United States.”
Wongo Okon of Uproxx wrote that Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, aimed to “bring the Brooklyn rapper’s name, sound, and presence to previously untouched corners and uncharted roads once and for all.”
David Crone of AllMusic wrote: “Though the first two volumes of Meet the Woo lacked the bombast of Smoke’s iconic singles, they demonstrated candor in their representation of the drill heavyweight; SFTSAFTM, by contrast, tarnishes the rapper’s visionary style with predatory glitz as everyone jumps for a piece of the pie.”
It’s not hyperbole at this point to say that the murder of Pop Smoke is a blight on the music’s landscape.
On July 9, 2020, three adult men and two minors were arrested for the murder of Pop Smoke. Two of the men were charged with murder with a special circumstance that alleged the killing was committed “during the commission of a robbery and a burglary” — making them eligible for the death penalty or life without parole if convicted.
Just before Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon posthumous release, Pop Smoke’s family announced they would be taking on the non-profit that he had just started. Pop Smoke had begun the non-profit purpose to “establish a platform that helps youth achieve their goals amidst living and growing up in difficult circumstances,” providing access to technology among other resources.
Its name? Shoot for the Stars Foundation.