![]() It went so fast he never even got the chance to perform an official hometown show. When his second mixtape rolled around in February, he was a borderline superstar. Soon enough, he was riding around the borough in a Bugatti with Travis Scott, in Paris with Virgil Abloh, and shutting down shows in the UK. His breakthrough single, “Welcome to the Party,” was so hot that Nicki Minaj hopped on the remix to assure that Pop would bring Brooklyn drill to the masses. I wish everything else in the album had the same uniqueness.In the winter of 2018, a teenage Pop Smoke arrived with one of his first-ever recordings, a thunderous remix of Sheff G’s “Panic Part 3.” By the summer, kids across the city were emulating his bellowing voice and signature dance, using any opportunity to shout the quotables off of his instant classic debut mixtape, Meet the Woo-“Bitch, I’m a thot, get me lit,” should replace “Fuhgeddaboudit” on the leaving Brooklyn sign. The one bright spot is Pop Smoke's voice - gravelly, uber-confident, and *different* from the rest of the rap game. The large numbers of features don't bring in anything new either, as the one-shot, thrown into the song with no direction, rarely bridge back to anything else sung. ![]() Occasionally they'll discuss drugs or money, just to spice things up a bit. On all the other songs, the lyrics start talking about sex too, although this time it's more because they don't know what else to talk about. The only songs that can consistently carry a train of thoughts from one stanza to the next are the ones that talk about sex. But unfortunately, the musical unoriginality is backed up by lyrical blandness. If Pop Smoke's lyrics were interesting enough to stand by themselves, this wouldn't be a problem. Almost every song lacks any sort of innovative sampling, relying on a mass-produced trap beat instead. Throughout it's hour long runtime, the record is simultaneously unfocused and repetitive. ![]() Throughout it's hour long If a spreadsheet made by a music executive decided to release an album, this is what it would sound like. If a spreadsheet made by a music executive decided to release an album, this is what it would sound like. It is sad to admit that only his voice will remain as the most outstanding element of Pop Smoke's success. I was appalled by the amount of love and mellow songs. There is a notable imbalance between bangers and slow jams all along the album. ![]() Some (few) punchlines are highly interesting and depict a part of the artist we didn't know much about but the rest is just composed of simple and widely common rap themes. Even if the producers couldn't help but push Smoke into its less original and more superficial tendencies in order to satisfy an audience that is content with mind-numbing repetition. Surprisingly, it feels much better to hear Pop Smoke explore other genres than his classic drill approach. Some even dramatically overshadow Smoke's presence. Some quite decent and appropriate, others totally irrelevant and money-directed. 'Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon' obviously had however the unavoidable need to be paved with many and many featurings. 'Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon' obviously had however the I was very surprised by the amount of material Pop Smoke left behind. I was very surprised by the amount of material Pop Smoke left behind.
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