2020 was a year of loss, of loved ones in our personal lives and famous people we only know on screens. In February of 2020, a month before we had any idea about the scale of the devastation that would reign over the next 16 months (and hasn't ended yet, in so many places), 20-year-old rapper, singer, and songwriter Pop Smoke died from gunshot wounds sustained during a home invasion.
At just 20 years old, he was at the beginning of his life and career and had only just risen to fame in the year prior with breakout single "Welcome to the Party." We never got a chance to know what his budding career would turn into or how he would leave his mark on the music industry, and from everything we know about what he was working on before he died, it was going to be big. Here's everything Pop Smoke had in the works before he passed away.
10 'Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon'
In March of 2020, just a couple weeks after Pop Smoke's death, rapper 50 Cent announced on his Instagram that he would go on to executive produce Pop Smoke's debut studio album Welcome to the Woo. He contacted other rap juggernauts including Drake, Chris Brown and Roddy Ricch, to feature them on the album.
9 His Sophomore Mixtape 'Meet The Woo 2'
After Pop Smoke's debut mixtape Meet the Woo catapulted him to fame during the summer of 2019, Meet the Woo 2 debuted on February 7, 2020, just days before his death. With features from rap artists including Nav, Gunna, and PnB Rock, the second mixtape was only growing in popularity and would like have spawned as many remixes and features as the first.
8 Hit Single 'Dior'
"Dior" became Pop Smoke's first posthumous hit when it was released shortly after his death, making it the second single off Meet the Woo, which had previously delivered "Welcome to the Party" while he was still alive. The song climbed to #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #33 on the UK Singles Chart.
7 A Personal Promise For His Mom
Pop Smoke's commitments at the time of his death weren't just to the music industry and his growing fanbase. He had also recently made a promise to his mom that he would bring her to an awards show. In a tearjerking tribute, 50 Cent said he would complete Pop's wish and make sure the album got his mom to an awards show. In May 2020, she accepted his 5 Billboard Music awards, including Top New Artist.
6 'For The Night' Featuring Lil Baby And DaBaby
Pop Smoke's collaborators have said that one of the things he was most excited about just before his death was the number of collaborations he was working on with rap artists he admired and respected. Pop was reportedly looking forward to shooting the music video for "For the Night" with rappers Lil Baby and DaBaby.
5 'Meet The Woo' Tour
Fans were buzzing when Pop Smoke took to his Instagram to tease a Meet the Woo tour. Tour dates were officially released in January 2020 and showed that he would begin his first headlining engagement with North America tour dates beginning in March and UK dates soon after. On February 13th, his team added more UK dates due to high demand, just six days before the young rapper was shot and killed.
4 A Spot In New York Drill Music History
Pop Smoke emerged hot on the scene in 2018 and quickly became what many call the "face of Brooklyn drill." Drill music, which features moody trap-like beats and dark lyrics, originated in Chicago in 2010, but Pop Smoke was one of the first to take it to the mainstream when he landed on the Billboard 100, leading many to crown him the king of the regional scene.
3 'Mood Swings' Featuring Lil Tjay
"Mood Swings" quickly became a fan favorite, and Pop Smoke's collaborator on the track, Lil Tjay, made sure Pop Smoke lived on in the song's music video, released in October 2020, eight months after his death. Though the video features Lil Tjay and his girlfriend oscillating between feuding and being in love, Pop Smoke's verse features lyrics about how much he'll spoil his woman: “She a queen, like Nefertiti, my lil’ mama sittin’ pretty."
2 Growing Motivation To Inspire Young Kids
It's a shame we never got to see what kind of initiatives or foundations Pop Smoke might have supported, because people close to him speak of how he had recently become active in encouraging young kids in his neighborhood to stay away from the streets, hoping to inspire them to take a different path and not get pulled into gangs.
1 'The Woo' Featuring 50 Cent And Roddy Ricch
"The Woo" is a Latin-influenced trap song that Pop Smoke wrote alongside 50 Cent, Roddy Ricch, 808Melo, Rxcksta and JW Lucas, but he died before he ever got to see the song finished and released. The music video for the song features archival video footage of Pop Smoke and was release on July 20, 2020, which would have been his 21st birthday.