‘Dior’: The song that defines Pop Smoke’s legacy
The late Brooklyn emcee Pop Smoke had an unfathomable impact during his prime, and one of his breakout hits has defined his legacy. Whenever the song is played in a club, the place explodes, and it evokes a lot of emotion in people. ‘Dior’ was a triple-platinum single; strangely, it started on TikTok. The track was a true testament to the power of the internet and began a big wave of New York and London musicians teaming up to create music.
808MeloBeats, who produced the club anthem, and it helped kickstart his career as a professional producer. Pop Smoke wrote the 2019 track, but the instrumental was merely a beat he had found on YouTube. UK Drill producers were making “DJ L Type Beats” and slapping them on the internet, and some of these beats were crossing the Atlantic. The ‘Dior’ beat took Pop Smoke’s fancy and, in an indirect meeting of the minds, Pop Smoke and 808Melo made a hit that millions of TikTok users made popular.
Whether it was with dance routines or reactions, the social media excitement on Instagram and TikTok created a fervour around ‘Dior’ that has never gone away. In an interview with Genius, 808Melo explained how unaware he was of ‘Dior’ when it first came out, telling the world, “So I got into the studio and I was playing the [Dior] beat. The engineer was getting gassed like, ‘Yeah, this is sick!’ But he was looking at me like ‘I’ve heard this beat before.'” After his engineer showed him Pop Smoke’s song, the beatmaker reacted, “Oh shit he ripped it off of YouTube.”
808Melo and Pop Smoke didn’t even connect through traditional means. They didn’t meet at an industry party or have any mutual friends. Instead, Pop Smoke emailed him, and they later began speaking via Instagram. Regardless of how they joined forces, it led not only to ‘Dior’ but also to the project Meet the Woo, which was produced entirely by 808Melo.
The haunted string samples used by 808Melo on the instrumental of ‘Dior’ give it an eerie feel that matches so well with Pop Smoke’s hoarse voice, it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else on the song. The Brooklyn rhymer’s inflexions and cadence align perfectly with the haunted way the violins move on the drums, and it is undoubtedly a drill masterpiece.
Furthermore, the Brooklyn drill was at its height in 2019, and not many of the MCs from the scene had managed to go mainstream due to their heavily gang-focused lyrics. In contrast, Pop Smoke was delivering hooks and catchy songs perfect for the charts.
‘Dior’ ticks all of the boxes needed for a smash, which is why it defines Pop Smoke’s career. It is a strip-club hit that can also be played on the radio and has a cultural connection outside of the US, which gives it international appeal as well.