The second posthumous release from Pop Smoke, “Faith,” proves a few things. Firstly, it demonstrates just how far his brief body of work and charism can carry the rapper. And secondly, it proved just how opportunistic the hip-hop industry could be to scavenge off the literal corpses of dead artists to extend the hype and, by extension, the money for as long as possible. It’s a mixed bag of an album with some worthwhile cuts, but it is a far cry from his actual productions.
Few artists have done more for drill than Pop Smoke who popularized the genre and while also being an infamous warning sign to its lifestyle. The 20-year-old Brooklyn rapper was just on the come up when he was murdered at an Airbnb in Los Angeles in February 2020, just days after the release of his mixtape “Meet the Woo 2.” His baritone voice and martyrdom made him iconic among hip-hop fans around the world.