How to continue New York drill rapper #PopSmoke’s legacy has been a focus for his friends, family, and members of the hip hop community ever since his tragic death in February 2020. Now, some are worried that there may be no music left to release.
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Two posthumous albums have been released since Pop Smoke’s passing. The first album, “Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon” did extremely well, topping charts and garnering praise from critics. His most recent release, “Faith” is a much different story.
The differences in Pop’s first album and second album are abundant. While both have managed to reach number 1 on the charts, the reception of each album is much different.
According to his team, “Shoot for the Stars” was already in the making before Pop Smoke passed. When #50Cent took over to executive produce, he was finishing tracks that had already been created. This is somewhat evident in the sound on the record. While it has tracks that do stray from the gritty drill sound, it still sounds like Pop Smoke. “Faith”, as critics have pointed out, does not.
Fans and Music critics alike have many complaints about the production of this most recent venture. One complaint held by listeners is about who featured on the record and the amount of them. “Faith” has 22 features over the course of 20 songs. Featured artists include the likes of Pharrell Williams, #KanyeWest, Future, and even Dua Lipa which threw many for a loop.
Review sites like Pitchfork made claims that “Faith” is an example of a record label money grab disguised as attempting to prolong someone’s legacy. Many publications like “Mic” and “The Ringer” made an example out of “Faith” as to why posthumous albums rarely ever represent the artist’s wishes. These claims were then further supported when Pop Smoke’s best friend, Mike Dee announced that he didn’t even know the album was in the making and had nothing to do with the project that was supposed to honor someone so close to him.
Now Mike Dee has spoken out again. In an interview with radio host Kalisha Perera, Mike Dee explained that after the deluxe version of “Faith” has been released, Pop Smoke’s music vault may be all tapped out.
In the interview, Mike Dee continues to elaborate his disagreement with the choices of Pop’s team. Dee states that if it were up to him he wouldn’t have dropped all 30 songs and instead would have quote, “waited until now, till next year, that way his name will stay alive instead of just dropping it all at one time,”
Are you happy with the results of Pop Smoke’s posthumous album? Do you agree with Mike Dee that Pop’s team released too much too soon? Tell us what you think in the comment section below.