The new posthumous Pop Smoke album “Faith” is here, feat. 21 Savage, Future, Kanye West, and more.
Another new and second posthumous album called “Faith” of the late Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke has finally dropped. It is a follow-up to his previous record-breaking debut project “Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon” which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.
Just like his last album, the new project features a star-studded lineup of guest appearances from Kanye West, Rick Ross, Pusha T, Future, Chris Brown, 21 Savage, Swae Lee, Kodak Black, Quavo, Takeoff, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, and more. The album is packed with 20 songs.
Faith enters in a totally different situation. The gilded aristocracy of popular rap is racing to release long-awaited opuses as the globe reopens for business – Delta variation be damned, evidently. Tyler, the Creator and Brockhampton have just released critically acclaimed albums, and Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, and Cardi B are said to be working on new music. Faith is being debated as to whether it is genuinely designed to help Pop Smoke’s legacy or whether it is simply a cash cow for his estate and label. For an audience whose focus may be elsewhere, listening to the findings feels like business as usual.
Faith has had its share of spectacular moments. The sleazy disco music of “Demeanor” gets a plummy verse from Dua Lipa. With Takeoff on “What’s Crackin’,” a Pop Smoke and Migos recording might be a legendary superstar team-up that never was. Then there’s “Spoiled,” in which Pop glides above Pharrell Williams’ famous piano melodies; it’s a beautiful moment, even if the lyrics, which refer to women as “spoiled,” sound a little cruel. On “Tell the Vision,” Pusha T raps, “Tyler got the album of the year… for now/But Pop about to release, I see the platinum in the skies/But Tyler got the album of the year… for now/But Pop about to drop, I see the platinum in the clouds.” Pusha T may be correct: Whether or not “real trappers” like it, Faith has a chance to reach the same commercial heights as Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon.
Faith opened at number one on the Billboard 200 list in the United States, with 88,000 album-equivalent units (including 113.34 million on-demand streaming, 4,000 pure album sales, and 1,000 track-equivalent albums) sold. This was the late artist’s second number one album in the United States, and his third top-10 hit overall. Pop Smoke is the only musician in history to have his first two albums chart at #1 on the Billboard 200 after his death.
UPDATE: Added the Deluxe Edition for the album. It includes four additional songs, “Questions”, “Defiant”, “Run Down” and “Money Man”.
