Pop Smoke was an American rapper who was on the forefront of Brooklyn's exploding drill movement, paving the way with hits like "Welcome to the party" and "Dior".


When Pop Smoke was first on the scene at the very end of 2018, several well-known insiders said that 2019 would be HIS year because "Welcome To The Party" would be one of the summer's biggest hits.

Coming from New York, he seemed to have everyone's backing and was stepping into the void for the east coast internet rap culture created by Tekashi 69's imprisonment.

Pop Smoke was a leader in New York's rapidly increasing drill scene movement, but things could have turned out quite differently for him.

At a time, he was on track to receive a college basketball scholarship but due to health issues, he was excluded and it was then he turned over to rap. However, before he could start earning money from rapping, he became involved in street life, which ultimately appears to have cost him his life.

Pop Smoke was killed on February 19th, 2020, in what is currently thought to be a home invasion.

His final social media posts showed him relaxing by the pool, getting his hair cut, doing some press, and promoting his most recent mixtape while he was in Los Angeles.

The bad news is that the man was only 20 years old.


But before all these, before his death, before Pop Smoke released his mixtape "The Woo Volume 1" in the summer of 2019, which featured the viral singles "Meet The Woo," "Dior," "Welcome To The Party," and "Welcome To The Party."

Before he would collaborate with Nicki Minaj, French Montana, Lil Tjay, Calboy, YG, Travis Scott, and Skepta, before he had over 23 million Instagram followers, over 2 million YouTube subscribers, and 400,000 Twitter followers, he was just like any other kid growing up in Canarsie.

Pop Smoke, whose parents are from Jamaica and Panama, was born Bashar Barakah Jackson on July 20, 1999 in Brooklyn, New York. He has one sister. His family hails from Canarsie, a West Indian-influenced neighborhood in the southeast part of the borough of Brooklyn that is primarily made up of working- and middle-class residential and commercial structures.

According to Pop Smoke, when you're a kid from the hood, you only have three options: play ball, sell drugs, or rap and he completed all three, and excelled in each one.

He received a slap when he was 13; the incident was caught on camera and went viral on social media. Since Pop Smoke was a good kid at 13, there might have been a reason he was being picked on. 

He ran the court as a point and shooting guard while he was growing up and playing basketball. His talent in the game even led to his relocation to the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he enrolled at Rocktop Academy, one of many prep schools around the nation whose only goal is to attract college basketball scholarships for their students.

Unluckily for him, his hopes of becoming a professional athlete were dashed when they discovered a heart mumur. Even though he was unable to play competitively anymore, he continued to tutor his buddies in his free time.

He made the decision to pursue his other two options, rap and drugs, since ball was no longer an option. Rap looked like a natural choice for the lifelong admirer of 50 Cent, DMX, and Lloyd Banks, but before he could make money as a rapper, he had to sell drugs on the streets to get by.

The New York Times once characterized Pop Smoke's teenage years as "high-risk, high-reward." According to him, "you must take action to obtain nice things if you like nice things".

Although the money was nice, street life still had its share of issues. He eventually was expelled from school for bringing a gun to class. He spent two times in jail before being placed under home arrest for two years on a weapons charge.



After that, as part of a diversionary program, he was made to wear an ankle bracelet until the charges were dropped. When asked what he did with all that time at home, he replied "Read. I like to read and fuck a lot of bitches, so I'm good".  

He was rumored to have connections to the 23 G Stone Crips, a Brooklyn-based gang, but it wasn't simply gang bangers he was hanging out with.

His close friend Jay Gwuapo, with whom he would hang out in a studio, was very serious about succeeding in the rap game, so they visited the studio very often. A day came when Pop entered the booth to attempt rapping for the first time, just to see if he could. He utilized a beat he downloaded from YouTube to create his track "MPR," which unexpectedly became viral on Spotify and YouTube.

He received offers quickly and signed with Victor Victor Worldwide, a division of Universal Music Group.

Pop Smoke made the decision to leave the gang life while he still had the chance, so he started working on his new, budding career but required some beats. He made the decision to visit the YouTube page where he had previously downloaded his first instrumental and interacted with UK producer 808 Melo.

While pursuing a degree in graphic design at the time, Melo was just starting out in the music industry. The two got along well right away and started working closely together; Melo made many trips to New York to meet with Pop smoke and he produced the entire first episode of "Meet The Woo."

Pop Smoke and Melo created a brand-new style of drill music that New York had not heard in a while with the help of Pop Smoke's gruff, no-nonsense growl, Melo's UK influences, and other factors.

After his official mixtape "Welcome To The Woo" was released in July 2019, the single "Welcome To The Party," which he produced at home in 30 minutes, quickly gained popularity. It was remixed by artists like Nicki Minaj and Skepta and became the unofficial 2019 Summer hit.



Speaking about his name Pop Smoke, he told Genius that it is a blend of the nicknames Smoke Oh Guap and Papa, which were bestowed upon him by his childhood pals and his grandmother in Panama.

Pop Smoke was generating all the hype and attention a rookie rapper could ever wish for, as songs like "MPR," "Flexin," "PTSD," and "Dior" kept the crowd entertained.

The rapper was scheduled to perform at Rolling Loud in Fresh York before his previous illegal behavior started to cause some new issues.

Pop Smoke was dropped from the Rolling Loud lineup along with Cassanova, Don Q, Sheff G, and 22GZ. Rolling Loud issued a statement saying: "The above listed performers have been affiliated with recent acts of violence citywide. The New York City Police Department thinks there will be more violence if these people are permitted to perform."

The rapper's mother's home was pledged as collateral in exchange for his release on bond after he was accused of transporting a stolen Rolls Royce Wraith from California to New York.

A month later, when discussing the incident, Pop makes an effort to minimize it. He declares, "I'm not a gang banger, and I'm not a gang boss." "I'm not like that." "Iam a dog, the woo". "That's it, an artist."

Pop Smoke made it clear that he was writing music to communicate to young kids like himself who had to carry their firearms to school because it ain't safe, but they still got to make sure they get they diploma that their moms may be happy. 

Now fast-forward to February 18th, 2020, when Pop Smoke was last spotted on social media relaxing by the pool at a rental home in the Hollywood Hills. 

During a house invasion, he was tragically shot and died, and he was declared dead in the wee hours of February 19, 2020.

It is truly awful since this young man showed so much potential as a rap star, a representative of the east coast, a trend-setter, and a super star.