On Thursday, The Los Angeles Police Department announced that five people have been arrested in connection with Pop Smoke’s murder, two of whom are underage. Pop Smoke (born Bashar Barakah Jackson) died in his Hollywood Hills home on February 19.
No further details—including the motive and identity of those involved—have been released yet.
The voice of Brooklyn drill still woos and wows on the streets of Brooklyn and Queens to this day and, I suspect, will continue to for many years to come. The Canarsie, Brooklyn-born artist was 20 at the time of his death and had barely touched the surface of his potential. Already, he was deemed “the whole vibe, the whole movement.”
Smoke’s posthumous album Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon was released last Friday, July 3. A deluxe album is reportedly expected in the near future.
On “Tunnel Vision,” Jackson utters “I’m a force to be reckoned, I’m God’s perfection… God gave me a lot in some months, but it could go in a second.”