The development of Pop Smoke is clear on his debut studio album. He is the one true king.
Warning: Game of Thrones spoilers.
While alive, it's understandable how Pop Smoke's path to the throne would seem incomprehensible to most.
His sale numbers were a fraction of A Boogie's numbers, and A Boogie already had a four-year head start. His younger peers like Lil Tecca and Lil Tjay easily outsold him, with Tecca's We Love You Tecca and Tjay's True 2 Myself outselling Meet the Woo 2's first-week numbers by nearly 35,000 and 15,000 units respectively. Then there was the polarizing figure with crazy hair and a devout fanbase capable of stealing the throne at any time.
But for those familiar with Pop Smoke, that difficult path was irrelevant.
Pop Smoke was the one true King of New York. Pop Smoke was Jon Snow.
Much like Snow, Pop Smoke was killed before the world got to see his best efforts. Snow eventually came back to life and lived up to his potential, saving the world and having his title of king become solidified by his royal blood.
Shoot For The Moon Aim For The Stars(Shoot) is Pop Smoke's Jon Snow resurrection.
The posthumous album delivers 18 new, diverse songs, each showing the progression of Pop Smoke from Brooklyn Drill catalyst to one of the brightest young stars in all of music and the undisputed King of New York.
Projected to sell nearly 200,000 first-week units, Shoot is Pop Smoke's Aegon Targaryen moment. Previously only recognized by few, the special aura surrounding Pop Smoke's music is solidified and becomes undeniable with his debut album.
Unlike Mac Miller's acclaimed posthumous Circles album, Shoot isn't special because it's the perfect goodbye. This album is special because it's a 57-minute bittersweet reminder that Pop Smoke was rap royalty whose reign had barely begun.
After many critics of Meet The Woo 2 cited a homogenous sound as a negative, Pop Smoke displayed a new level of artistic versatility on Shoot.
According to Hip Hop By The Numbers, Pop Smoke spent 51.8%of Shoot rapping and 48.2% it singing, with seven tracks featuring him singing 60% of the time. This tapped potential by Pop Smoke multiplies his potential audiences and shows he had developed the valuable skill that pushed other young artists like Roddy Ricch and Lil Baby into Billboard staples.
Pop Smoke's rapid development is on display throughout the album, as some of the project's best songs are songs that would previously be unimaginable coming from him.
Despite performing alongside one of the hottest young artists in the world and a former King of New York, Pop Smoke's smooth hook delivery on "The Woo" is the standout moment on one of the album's standout tracks.
Pop Smoke's stardom outshining megastars is a recurring theme of Shoot.
"For The Night" is one of the best songs of 2020, and it has nothing to do with the verses from two of the hottest artists of 2020. This track was destined to be a hit with or without features, but judging by Lil Baby and Da Baby's references to Pop Smoke's death in their verses, Pop Smoke didn't have a second verse recorded at the time of his death, leaving 2020's finest to serve as big-name verse fillers.
Then comes the love songs.
Similar to the executive producer of this album, Pop Smoke has the rare ability to make a street love song and turn it into a hit.
If 2020 wasn't 2020, Pop Smoke flipping Fabolous' "Into You" and Ginuwine's "Differences" into his own love hits would cause a mental spiral, but with the current state of the simulation, all you can do is accept how great "Something Special" and "What You Know About Love" is.
Not all of the album's highlights come from Pop Smoke singing though.
Pop Smoke shows off the grimy sound that his fans love on "44 BullDog", and "Got It On Me", while incredibly ominous to listen to, is a great remake of a classic street survival anthem.
Excluding "West Coast Shit", the rare miss on Shoot doesn't come from Pop Smoke.
Yes, the album doesn't sound like traditional Pop Smoke. It's more refined and sounds easily digestible for the mainstream, but that's more a sign of development than negatitivity.
With that being said, some of the mainstream-friendly features fall flat.
Quavo appears on two features too many. Swae Lee earned "Creature" an automatic playlist spot with his hook performance then got the track unadded seconds later with his verses.
Then there's King Combs. A dialogue needs to be had about King Combs.
Regardless of what Diddy has done for music, or how good Cîroc tastes or the status of my Revolt internship, please stop subjecting the world to King Combs features until he earns it.
Final Score: Jon Snow/10
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