The shocking death of the 20-year-old Brooklyn rapper cuts short a swift career filled with audacious and acclaimed rap
If Bashar Barakah Jackson did study the
New York rap playbook, it was so he could renounce all its lessons. Forged in Brooklyn – a most blessed land in hip-hop history – this musical risk-taker took up the name Pop Smoke and pursued a singular style outside of all east coast rap conventions. Now, he’ll forever be mourned in a borough that knows all too well what it’s like to lose legends before their time.
Related: US rapper Pop Smoke, 20, shot and killed in home invasion