The city of New York — and specifically the borough of Brooklyn — are feeling the loss of Pop Smoke hard after celebrating the 20-year-old as one of their fast-rising talents, identifying within him and watching him steadily grow into one of the would-be breakout stars of the year. With a stellar debut for Meet The Woo 2, clocking in the seventh spot on the Billboard 200 in its first week out, Pop Smoke was on pace for something special in 2020 and, following his murder, his New York contemporaries are reacting in their own ways. Nicki Minaj and 50 Cent suggested that they think jealousy had something to do with his death just hours after reading the initial reports, while Joey Bada$$ has officially reacted with some straight bars, as only he can.
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One of the better lyricists in the new school of hip-hop, 25-year-old Joey Bada$$ uploaded a video to Instagram where he addresses the death of Pop Smoke, freestyling and noting that he was about to lay down the vocals in the booth.
“A lil something I wrote in light of all the fucked up shit goin on rn,” wrote Badmon in his caption, going off for over a minute with a very tight flow. Many people are saying in the comments that this brings back 1999 vibes.
The Pro Era member isn’t the only person to have teased a musical offering inspired by the life of Pop Smoke. Yesterday, Lil Tjay kicked off the tribute offerings by releasing his latest effort “Forever Pop.”
