Pop Smoke was shot to death inside of his Hollywood Hills home in February 2020. The New York-born rapper (real name Bashar Barakah Jackson) tragically lost his life at just 20 years old. Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that one man connected to Pop Smoke’s murder pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
There have been efforts to preserve his memory, including posthumous releases and the debut of a mural in his Brooklyn neighborhood months after his death.
Today, April 17, an mural, supposedly of the rapper is making the rounds online — and it looks nothing like Pop Smoke:
Fans are not happy with new Pop Smoke mural pic.twitter.com/DOU9QCkOLW
— No Jumper (@nojumper) April 17, 2023
New Pop Smoke mural revealed pic.twitter.com/meB3JtnrmN
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) April 17, 2023
It’s unclear where the mural is located (it appears to be inside of a store), and it hasn’t been totally confirmed that the mural is intended to reflect Pop Smoke, but it does (somewhat) bear a resemblance to a photo of the late rapper.
Nah this is just wrong man pic.twitter.com/vLSZmL9em2
— Himenez (@typevalid) April 15, 2023
Y’all feelin this Pop Smoke mural? pic.twitter.com/FsTmKZJscc
— Rap Alert (@The_rap_alert) April 17, 2023
The reactions are predictably negative. Commenters flooded No Jumper’s post claiming that the painted figure looks more like Babyface Ray, Fivio Foreign, or Lil Durk.
“They put the Snapchat baby face filter on him smh…,” a tweeter going by Dan I wrote, while Everyrealm compared it to the infamous Ronaldo sculpture from 2017.
That’s porzingis lmaooo
— Re:animated (@ReanimatedYT) April 17, 2023
Nobody
— PATRYK (@__cski) April 17, 2023
— Mekka Don (@MekkaDonMusic) April 17, 2023
Amateur work
— Hsky (@hskyforever) April 17, 2023
Is that Pop Smoke or PopCaan pic.twitter.com/kiY84epjWO
— Pillows And Duvets (@PillowsAndDuvet) April 17, 2023
That ain’t Pop Smoke that’s Pop Steam pic.twitter.com/lQ8cV4Ohep
— Biff Wiff (@Tre2Daye) April 17, 2023
While the mural is objectively sore, it was much more egregious when Aubrey Jackson, Pop Smoke’s mother, shared in September 2021 that his gravesite had been vandalized.