By all accounts, most of us are still reeling from the sudden and unfortunate death of Pop Smoke, an artist who was only beginning his career at 20 years old. Before his passing, he found time to run around Paris with Migos’ Quavo, creating a music video for their Meet The Woo 2 collaboration “Shake The Room.”
Taking to Instagram, the clip’s director – fashion maven Virgil Abloh – spoke on how the creation of the video came about:
“[Pop Smoke’s] impact will live on thru the art he left us. in this case it was the night after the Louis show while we had the cameras rolling inside & outside a typical French restaurant in my neighborhood.”
The 808Melo-produced cut keeps with Pop Smoke’s penchant for melding boastful Brooklyn rhymes with UK Drill beats:
“I pop a Perc’, feel amazing/
Straight Henny, no chaser/
N***as be talkin’ hot ‘til they get burned/
I don’t fuck with n***as ‘cause these n***as be sherm/
Lil’ n***a, stay in your place, wait for your turn/
Respect ain’t given, n***a, it’s earned/
In the Bugatti, 5719 with baguettes/
Flag in the air, hold on, ref, ref…/”
Last February, Pop Smoke was tragically shot and killed during a home invasion robbery in Los Angeles. Since then, he’s received the highest honors among fans and peers — his massive funeral procession through Brooklyn was almost reminiscent of The Notorious B.I.G.’s more than two decades ago. His streams have increased a hundredfold, a bittersweet after-effect that artists like Nipsey Hussle and Juice WRLD have experienced prior. A Paris nightclub even paid homage to Pop Smoke with a hologram performance for their attendees.
You can press play on “Shake The Room” below. Given that 50 Cent is reportedly working feverishly on a posthumous release, fans can probably expect some additional, unreleased music from Pop Smoke soon.