Late New York rapper Pop Smoke’s name will never die. In light of the news of a posthumous self-titled new album will be dropping, the streets are popping up with signs of it across his hometown. Pop Smoke New Album Hype Hits The Streets Posters have been appearing around New York City with Pop Smoke’s […]
Late New York rapper Pop Smoke’s name will never die. In light of the news of a posthumous self-titled new album will be dropping, the streets are popping up with signs of it across his hometown. Pop Smoke New Album Hype Hits The Streets Posters have been appearing around New York City with Pop Smoke’s […]
The music world is just a day removed from the one-year anniversary of Pop Smoke’s first posthumous album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon. The 19-track effort, which extended to 34 songs after a deluxe reissue, stood as one of last year’s most popular albums. In fact, at this year’s Billboard Music Awards, the project won Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Rap Album. Now, the late rapper’s team is preparing to release a second posthumous album as its impending arrival was confirmed at the end of last month.
At the time of the announcement, a title for the project had not been revealed. That changed when the pre-order for the album went live on streaming services Saturday night. The late rapper’s second posthumous album will be titled Pop Smoke and it will deliver 17 songs to listeners. Fans will have to wait a bit longer to view the album’s official tracklist and possible guest features, but in the meantime, they can press play on the outro for Pop Smoke which finds the Brooklyn native giving a motivational speech to listeners.
Along with the announcement of Pop Smoke, the late rapper’s team shared an album trailer that portrayed interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with the Brooklyn native. “Never let anybody get in between you and your creations,” the rapper says in the trailer. “Why you just trying to be cool? You gotta make history.”
You can listen to the outro from Pop Smoke in the video above.
Pop Smoke is out 7/16 via Victor Victor Worldwide/Republic. Pre-order it here.
Machine Gun Kelly aka Colson Baker is the kind of multi-talented artist who can float easily between music and movies, but his most recent film choice has been a cause of irritation for some. Baker’s latest project is a film called Good News, which Deadline describes as the “the story of the last days of a rising but troubled musician. While the feature is a complete work of fiction, it takes its inspiration from the arcs of such contemporary artists as Mac Miller, Lil Peep, Pop Smoke and Juice WRLD.” Well, the family of at least one of those late musicians is not at all pleased about the project.
Mac Miller’s brother, Miller McCormick, posted an Instagram story today voicing his distaste for the project. “F*ck you, f*ck your movie,” he wrote. “At least change the title.” This is a fair response given the name of the film seems to be a direct reference to a single of the same name off Miller’s posthumous project, Circles. Watching someone disconnected from a loved one make art about their life seems like a pretty brutal process, and the family recently spoke out on a similar matter about an unauthorized biography of Miller.
Machine Gun Kelly and the team behind the film have yet to respond.
Migos made their grand return on Friday with their fourth album, Culture III. The project arrived as a 19-track effort with contributions highlighted by Drake, Cardi B, Future, DaBaby, Justin Bieber, Polo G and Juice WRLD. It’s also the Atlanta trio’s first project together since their 2018’s Culture II. Social media opinions of the new album seemingly prove that the rap group has returned to the excellence they displayed earlier in their career with projects like No Label II and Culture. As fans continue to enjoy the new project, Quavo recently revealed another project that sadly never came to fruition between himself and another artist.
During an interview on Los Angeles’ Real 92.3, Quavo spoke about adding posthumous features from Pop Smoke and Juice WRLD on Culture III, revealing that he actually hoped to make a full album with the former before his death.
“That was important, know what I’m saying,” he said. “I had a relationship with Pop Smoke, we had a relationship with Pop Smoke, and it was just, important. We had so many records, me and him was bout to make an album. So I just felt like I had to put Pop on there.”
He added, “Rest in Peace to my dawg Pop, we just made so much good music. Us on a New York drill beat is just like, magic.”
Pop Smoke and Juice WRLD appear on “Light It Up” and “Antisocial,” respectively, on Culture III. While it was the Migos’ first official collaboration with the two rappers, Quavo previously worked with Pop Smoke on “Aim For The Moon,” “Snitching” and “West Coast Sh*t” from the rapper’s posthumous album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon.
You can watch the Migos’ interview on Real 92.3 above.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Migos’ Culture III rollout is going as well as could be expected with a global pandemic to deal with. Shortly after releasing lead single “Straightenin,” the Atlanta trio revealed the release date with a Michael Jordan-style statement, then announced a festival in Las Vegas to promote the project before sharing the avant-garde cover art. Today, they presented the next piece of the puzzle, revealing the tracklist and features, which naturally include Offset’s wife Cardi B and their longtime collaborator Drake.
The project also boasts the dubious distinction of hosting two posthumous appearances from Juice WRLD and Pop Smoke, as well as a potentially star-making performance for Youngboy Never Broke Again, and an eyebrow-raising guest spot from Justin Bieber, who has previously worked with Quavo on his song “Intentions” and DJ Khaled’s “I’m The One” and “No Brainer.” Future and Polo G round out the features on an 18-song tracklist that surprisingly does not include “Rolling Stone,” the song Offset told Billboard is the one he can’t stop playing from the album. Perhaps it was cut at the last minute or maybe the name was changed (or Offset misremembered it); we’ll find out this Friday.
Culture III is due 6/11 via Quality Control and Motown/Capitol. You can participate in their first listen Thursday at apple.co/FirstListenMigos.
One of the highlights of 2020 was the arrival of Pop Smoke’s debut album, Shoot for The Stars, Aim for The Moon. The project arrived five months after Pop was shot and killed during a home invasion in a Hollywood mansion he was renting. The album became one of the most streamed of 2020 and has remained a mainstay in the top-10 of the Billboard album charts. For those who wanted more, the late rapper’s manager, Steven Victor, has some good news.
PUSHA ALBUM
POP SMOKE ALBUM
NIGO ALBUM
— Steven-San Victor (@StevenVictor) June 5, 2021
In a post to Twitter on Friday, Victor hinted at more music, writing, “POP SMOKE ALBUM,” with a slew of fire emojis. He also teased an upcoming album from Pusha T. The announcement comes after Rico Beats, who also worked with Pop Smoke, spoke about an upcoming project from the late rapper. “I see and hear everything,” he wrote under an Instagram post. “Kept it cool tho no worries. Pay back around the corner. Pop Smoke new album loading…”
As we wait for updates about the album, fans can expect to hear Pop Smoke on a pair of upcoming projects. He’s set to appear on “Lane Switcha” with Skepta, ASAP Rocky, Juicy J, and Project Pat, from the upcoming soundtrack for Fast & Furious 9. He will also make an appearance on Polo G’s upcoming album, Hall Of Fame, out on June 11.
