Pop Smoke has two albums to his name, both of which were released posthumously, and both of which have reached the No. 1 on Billboard 200 albums chart, according to Billboard. 'Faith' debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week starting with 88,000 equivalent album units earned. 'Faith' features more than 20 guest stars, including Chris Brown, Future, Dua Lipa and Kanye West. Pop Smoke previously topped the Billboard 200 with his debut album 'Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon' last July. Pop Smoke was killed on Feb. 19, 2020, at age 20, after being shot during a home-invasion robbery in Los Angeles.

The Weeknd took home 10 awards at the 2021 Billboard Music Award, including top artist and top male artist, Billboard reports. Pop Smoke won five, including top new artist and BTS and Bad Bunny each earned four. P!nk was honored as the Icon, Drake as the artist of the decade and Trae Tha Truth as the Change Maker.

A year ago Pop Smoke was shot and killed at age 20, as he was preparing to release his debut album. Although he died, his music reached high levels in the meantime, as Independent sums it up. Last summer, the rapper’s breakout 2019 single 'Dior' became fuel for the Black Lives Matter movement. His posthumous single 'What You Know Bout Love' reached the top spot on the US rhythmic radio chart last month. Song 'For The Night' is now a staple among the top five played songs on urban radio stations. His posthumous album 'Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon' has topped the Billboard 200 twice...

Republic Records claims the top three titles on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, a first in two years, Billboard says. Taylor Swift’s 'Folklore' (released via Republic) climbs back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for an eighth non-consecutive week on top, with 77,000 equivalent album units. Total album sales for 'Folklore' jump past 1 million (to 1.038 million), making it the first album to sell a million copies in 2020, according to Billboard. Pop Smoke’s 'Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon' (via Victor Victor Worldwide/Republic) falls one spot with 66,000 equivalent album units earned. 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s 'Savage Mode II' (Boominati/Slaughter Boomin/Republic/Epic) dips 2-3 with 47,000 units (down 29%).

The posthumous debut album by US rapper Pop Smoke, 'Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon' climbs to Number 1 on this week’s Official UK Albums Chart. It has become a norm for hip-hop albums to get the majority of the sales from streaming - 97% of Pop Smoke's charts sales figure this week came from streams (rock still clings to physical album sales). Pop Smoke, who died in February this year, becomes the first solo artist to land a posthumous Number 1 debut album in the UK – the only other act to have done so was Warrington band Viola Beach who topped the Official Albums Chart with their self-titled debut in 2016 (a few months after the complete band died in a car crash).

Pop Smoke hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for his debut album, 'Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon', which moved an impressive 251,000 equivalent album units. Of that total, 59,000 came from traditional albums sales, Billboard reports. This marks the first No. 1 posthumous album since XXXTentacion's 'Skins' album debuted at No. 1 in 2018. The debut album comes five months after the rapper was killed. The 19-track album was completed by 50 Cent. Also on the Billboard 200, the original Broadway cast recording of 'Hamilton: An American Musical' vaults from No. 14 to No. 2 after it earned 102,000 equivalent album units last week. The last cast recording to reach the top two on the chart was the original cast album of 'Hair', which spent 13 weeks at No. 1 in 1969, according to Billboard.

Five people have been arrested in connection to the murder of Brooklyn rapper, Pop Smoke. So far, three adults and two juveniles, 15 and 17 years, were charged for their roles in the deadly shooting. The three men were identified as Jaquan Murphy, 21, Corey Walker, 19, and Keandre D. Rodgers, 18, all of Los Angeles. The news of the arrests comes on the heels of the release Pop Smoke's posthumous album 'Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon'. The 20-year-old rapper was fatally shot and killed at a rented Hollywood Hills home on February 19. Authorities believe Pop Smoke was shot and killed after his social media posts led five suspects to the house he was renting.

John Prine sang "Got no future in my happiness/Though, regrets are very few/Sometimes a little tenderness/Was the best that I could do" on 'I Remember Everything', the last song he recorded before he passed away from COVID-19; JD Simo's 'One Of Those Days' is a soulful, psychedelic and amusing rock; Bettye LaVette remade Billie Holiday's iconic 'Strange Fruit' reminding us public executions of this day aren't that different from the ones from two centuries ago; bass icon Bootsy Collins released 'Stars', featuring philosopher Dr. Cornel West, drummer Steve Jordan, banjo legend Béla Fleck, and EmiSunshine & Olvido Ruiz; Pop Smoke's posthumous album is coming out in July, 'Make It Rain' sounds promising, in mainstream hip-hop terms; Woodkid's 'Pale Yellow' is a strange fruit, dramatic, cinematic, folk-ish.

“This was the first time in about 20 years that there’s been, like, a whole movement” says Funkmaster Flex about Brooklyn Drill, the first new sound of New York in two decades. The DJ and radio personality acknowledged to Complex that A-listers like Cardi B and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie have come from the city in recent years, but none of them emerged with a whole scene at their backs. “This ain’t happen since the times of Dipset and G-Unit” says journalist Jamel Robinson, Brooklyn rap’s on-the-ground documentarian. Two stand-out tracks - Pop Smoke’s 'Welcome to the Party' and Fivio Foreign’s 'Big Drip'.

Mac Miller, Lil Peep and Juice WRLD have died of drug overdoses; XXXTentacion, Jimmy Wopo, Nipsey Hussle and Pop Smoke are among the MCs to have been murdered. Guardian talked to their fans to see how they felt, one Lil Peep's fan sums it up pretty good - "it definitely felt like a personal loss, rather than a celebrity death”.

Pop Smoke was such a sensation to witness because, while hip-hop continues to expand, he fed off that cultural diffusion while remaining quintessentially New York. His Caribbean flair, Brooklyn bravado, and trademark tone swiftly became the new voice of the city. He was a familiar, yet fresh archetype of what New York feels, looks, and sounds like. When we listen to Pop Smoke, we hear DMX, we hear 50 Cent, we hear Shyne - the Fader says in an obituary to Pop Smoke, NY-to-LA rapper killed last week in his Hollywood Hills home.

American rapper Pop Smoke has been shot dead during an armed robbery at his Hollywood Hills house yesterday morning. He was 20 years old. Two men wearing masks and hoodies reportedly entered Pop Smoke's home around 4:30 a.m. local time and fired multiple shots. Pop Smoke has been declared dead later in the hospital. Pop Smoke had his breakout single just last year with 'Welcome to the Party' from his debut mixtape 'Meet the Woo', that went on to be remixed by Nicki Minaj and Skepta. Later in 2019, Pop Smoke also collaborated with Travis Scott, and earlier this month he released his second mixtape, 'Meet the Woo 2'.

Roddy Ricch‘s 'Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial' returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a fourth nonconsecutive week, moving up one spot and opening with 79,000 equivalent album units. Other new debuts on this week’s Billboard 200 chart include Green Day‘s 'Father of All Motherfuckers' who enter at No. 4 with 48,000 equivalent album units. Pop Smoke gets his first top 10 with 'Meet the Woo, V.2' debuting at No. 7, gaining 36,000 equivalent album units.