Pop Smoke, New York Drill Rapper, Dies At 20
Pop Smoke performing during the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Tx. in 2019. The rapper was killed during a home invasion on Feb. 19, 2020. SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pop Smoke performing during the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Tx. in 2019. The rapper was killed during a home invasion on Feb. 19, 2020.
SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty ImagesBrooklyn-hailing rapper Pop Smoke, who was born Bashar Barakah Jackson, died Wednesday morning, according to his record label. The rising act was killed during a Los Angeles home invasion on Feb. 19, 2020. He was 20 years old.
Pop Smoke was a rising start in the New York drill scene because his intensity made him an outlier. Everything about his demeanor and delivery stood out — his tongue-curling ad-lib, a sometimes disorienting flow and the type of gravel-gargling tone that stops music listeners in their tracks.