Biography

Bashar Barakah Jackson (July 20, 1999 – February 19, 2020), known professionally as Pop Smoke, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was considered by many to be the face of Brooklyn drill. Born and raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Pop Smoke began his musical career in 2018. He often collaborated with UK drill artists and producers, who employed more minimal and aggressive instrumentation than drill artists from Chicago. Pop Smoke rose to fame with the release of his breakout single "Welcome to the Party" in April 2019. Following his rise to fame, Pop Smoke signed a recording contract with Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records, and released his debut mixtape Meet the Woo (2019). The mixtape's second single, "Dior", produced by 808Melo, reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. His second mixtape, Meet the Woo 2 (2020), debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200. Two weeks after the release of the project, Pop Smoke was fatally shot in a home invasion in Los Angeles. His debut studio album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, was posthumously released in July 2020 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with all 19 tracks from the album charting on the Billboard Hot 100. On February 19, 2020, Pop Smoke was renting a house in Hollywood Hills, California. At around 4:30 AM, four hooded men, including one wearing a ski mask and carrying a handgun, broke into the house and shot him twice.