The uncompromising grit of mixtapes like 50 Cent Is the Future carried over to the Interscope debut relatively unchanged.
Knowing Pop Smoke passed away is tragic and at the same time drive me to give it a listen after “the Woo”. The NYPD had it out for him his whole life. It’ll have to suffice. That “Candy Shop” reference was smooth. Shoot For The Stars has more hits than misses, helped by the album’s stellar sequencing. This record is black cape music. Subscribe Now! Polo G, for all the demons he’s faced on the streets and in his mind, is one step closer to securing his legacy. The second best Brooklyn drill rapper at the time was Fivio Foriegn, to me.
This verse is fine, but it’s blown out of the water by Pop’s voice. It’s harder to get past the density of high-profile featured artists, who generally exist as empty calories filling out otherwise half-finished Pop Smoke demos. Over already?
His gruff voice is a natural fit for these bleeding heart love songs. Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut studio album, is evidence of a star gaining his bearings, but as much as it is … based on
This guy was full of surprises. Pop Smoke shot like a rocket onto the music scene thanks to his 2019 hit “Welcome To The Party,” which became one of the summer’s most popular releases. Experimentation is the name of the game on SFTSAFTM. Pop Smoke was barely scratching the surface. When Pop Smoke was still on this earth, I thought he was the best Brooklyn drill rapper. “Enjoy Yourself” sounds like a baecation for the ages. 1 and Pt. *A version of this article appears in the July 20, 2020, issue of New York Magazine. Pop Smoke's legacy continues with posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon. Upon their arrival, these albums leave fans wondering a number of things: the heights their beloved artist could have reached, whether or not certain songs were altered, and if the body of work itself is what the artist wanted the world to hear. We’ve hit the end of the road. © 2020 Vox Media, LLC. His unmistakable growl wafted out of portable speakers at dozens of sidewalk gatherings and blessed every bottle rocket screaming skyward.
You can’t teach that kind of charisma. With Shoot for the Stars, Pop Smoke’s summer reign continues. The only tracks that stood out to me on the deluxe were Showin Off Pt. What makes the album truly stand out is that it serves as a testament to the strength, power and knowledge Smoke held in his ambition to go to the very top. The all-cast events have been in short supply this season, but at least we get some good small group scenes this week.
However, the album doesn’t stray too far from the genre, it isn’t by any means innovative. 808 Melo, who produced about two-thirds of Pop’s music to date, is less of a defining presence here. Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, makes one thing abundantly clear: the man had range.
“I be lookin’ at the top and, girl, it’s only us.” I love hearing Pop’s tender side. Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Pop’s 19-track posthumous debut album, marks a dramatic expansion—and dilution—of his signature sound. Another Quavo feature, huh? “You ain’t know I could sing?” Pop chirps flirtatiously at the outset of “Mood Swings.” It is endearing to hear him lower his guard, soften his rasp, trade his boundless swagger for tenderness, and offer the mushy overtures of a kid who loves cuddling nearly as much as sex. “West Coast Shit” is an admirable attempt at a Mustard-sized hit that doesn’t fully connect.
“I got the industry trying to be me.” All praise the new GOAT.
We’re back in gravel-sharp drill mode. “I went and did some time in the jail because I’d rather take the fast route.” He’s jumping between sex, jail, guns, and fashion talk so quickly it’s hard to catch up. It’s a beautiful sight when the entire city of New York gets behind the same song — greater still when it unites behind a homegrown talent. Summer 2014, when Bobby Shmurda tossed his Knicks fitted into the sky in the “Hot Nigga” video and it stayed there, might be the last time we knew true peace. The R&B vibes were nice while they lasted. The timing of the Israeli drama series, now on HBO Max, feels unsettlingly ironic, for Israeli and American audiences alike.
With stakes this high and a legacy to consider, the end result may or may not bear much of a resemblance to what Pop Smoke had in mind. Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon [Instrumentals] - Pop Smoke on AllMusic 2 © 2020 The DJ Booth LLC. For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding hit songs like “Welcome To The Party” and “Dior,” his star was just beginning to rise.
He unloaded the mental clip. Thanks, X. His tempo has slowed down, but his voice still cuts through everything. Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut album attempts to bring the Brooklyn rapper’s name, sound, and presence to previously untouched corners and uncharted roads once and for all. At this point, the new HBO drama feels defined more by its influences than its characters. Though the first two volumes of Meet the Woo lacked the bombast of Smoke's iconic singles, they demonstrated candor in their representation of the drill heavyweight; SFTSAFTM, by contrast, tarnishes the rapper's visionary style with predatory glitz as everyone jumps for a piece of the pie. His team—including executive producer 50 Cent—put a lot of thought and care into crafting what was, and still is, a statement piece for a rapper who was looking beyond drill while never ashamed to embrace his roots. Mandy Moore Wants to Know ‘How Could This Be Christmas?’ in New Holiday Single.
For a while, the well dried up. Not a mask in sight at the CMAs, just potential superspreader event vibes. When New Yorkers took to the streets last month to press the mayor and governor for change, “Dior” was one of the songs that soundtracked marches. Muffled chipmunk soul. (A week after the Shmoney dance Vine went viral, a different video ushered us into darker days as we watched the freshly slain Michael Brown baking in the Missouri sun, and a fresh, pained movement for equal rights began.) In the crushing final 30 seconds of “Got It on Me,” the beat drops out, and Pop the bluesman’s bare voice revisits the hook from 50’s “Many Men.”, Many, many, many, many men/Wish death ‘pon me. Pop Smoke is riding an asteroid through deep space. ‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon’ showcases a multi-faceted artist only just discovering his potential. Personally, I don’t like how the album’s tracklisting is put together (The album doesn’t flow well at all) and I think half of the songs on it sound slightly undone/cheesy. Pop builds himself up with a series of lip curled ‘yeahs’ before jumping into the track with only 34 seconds to spare. All in all, if Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon is Pop Smoke’s last album (I doubt that it will be), I feel like the masterminds behind its creation gave us a version of the 21-year-old rapper that will truly resonate with people.
It makes a kind of sense when you consider the rapper’s dismay about the well-trodden pathways between inner cities and upstate prisons, as expressed in “Dior” as well as in interviews, and the fact that the NYPD was on his back so much it literally had him removed from a festival bill.