By Yuriy Andriyashchuk
Hip-HopVibe.com Staff Writer
Back in February, it was safe to say that Pop Smoke was going to be one of hip-hop’s biggest new stars of hip-hop this year. He was coming off a 2019 where he had two breakout singles in “Welcome To The Party” and “Dior.” Welcome To The Party received two remixes with Nicki Minaj and Skepta.
Smoke started to really gain momentum in February with the release of his ‘Meet The Woo 2‘ mixtape. 12 days later, he was sadly shot and killed in Hollywood Hills, CA. Since then, the love has been overwhelming as fans started to stream the Brooklyn rapper’s music heavily. His debut studio album, ‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon,’ was also released in July and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and is now platinum.
Smoke’s posthumous year was a huge success as many wish he was actually able experience this. He has now been listed as SoundCloud’s most streamed artist of 2020, according to Chart Data. This is all while going against competitors such as Lil Baby and Drake. Smoke’s album featured huge hits such as “For The Night” feat. DaBaby and Lil Baby, “Mood Swings” feat. Lil Tjay and “Something Special.”
In addition to this streaming by SoundCloud, Smoke is also nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 2021 GRAMMYs next month. Many believed that Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon should’ve been nominated in the Best Rap Album and Best Album categories though, such as his manager, Steven Victor.
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