The posthumous debut released a few months after Pop Smoke’s murder, “Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon,” celebrates his talent while mourning his shattered potential. Almost everyone in hip-hop wanted to be on this record, with features from Quavo, Lil Baby, DaBaby, Future, Tyga and many more. Rowdy Rebel was literally phoned in to be on the record with a fuzzy cell phone conversation recording his verses. It topped the charts and landed on many best albums of 2020 lists.
Few artists have done more for drill than Pop Smoke who popularized the genre and while also being an infamous warning sign to its lifestyle. The 20-year-old Brooklyn rapper was just on the come up when he was murdered at an Airbnb in Los Angeles in February 2020, just days after the release of his mixtape “Meet the Woo 2.” His baritone voice and martyrdom made him iconic among hip-hop fans around the world.
