One year ago today, rapper Pop Smoke was shot and killed during a home invasion in the Hollywood Hills. He was only 20-years-old. Pop Smoke was born Bashar Jackson in Brooklyn, New York on July 20th, 1999. He started his music career in 2018 after hanging around other recording artists during their studio sessions.
He started remixing popular songs before making his own original songs. His artist name Pop Smoke is a combination of Papa, a nickname given to him by his Panamanian grandmother) and Smoke Oh Guap, a nickname given to him by childhood friends.
Pop released his hit “Welcome to the Party” off of his debut mixtape Meet the Woo. Nicki Minaj hopped on the remix of the song. He also did a song called “Gatti” with Travis Scott.
Right before his death, Pop Smoke released his second mixtape Meet the Woo 2.
The rapper's posthumous debut studio album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, was released last July, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
Later than month, three adult men and two minors were arrested for the murder of Pop Smoke.