Credit: Spotify

Pop Smoke’s career was unfairly cut short in 2020 when he was murdered in LA. Following tracks such as ‘Diro’ and ‘Welcome To The Party’, the Brooklyn drill artist gave rise to a new wave of New York MCs and immediately cut through to the mainstream.

Although he was heavily influenced by UK drill and even worked with some of the subgenres producers such as 808Melo and AXL beats, the lyricist made it palatable to an American audience and quickly became a pioneer of sorts.

Many other musicians, such as Bobby Shmurda, Fivio Foreign and 22Gz, helped popularise the sound in Brooklyn during the Mid-2010s. However, Pop Smoke’s rise to fame was a monumental moment for the genre and the tipping point which effectively led to drill becoming the de facto sound of New York.

Since then, figures such as Moneybagg Yo and Pooh Shiesty have achieved an unfathomable amount of notoriety using the sound. That said, in 2020, Pop Smoke sat down with Annie Mac to speak about his favourite tracks for a party.

Much to the surprise of many, the New Yorker revealed that he was a fan of Coldplay, specifically their track ‘Arabseque’. The downtempo track is a far cry from drill. With some verses sung in French, it was an unusual pick from the emcee.

However, concerning British rock bands, Pop Smoke made it clear he was a fan, naming bands such as Bombay Bicycle Club and Sports Team, as well as the singer Jacob Collier and the EDM duo Prospa.

Although Mac asked him to name his best songs for a party, the rhymer only named a few hip-hop tracks and, aside from three of his own, Pop Smoke highlighted Pa Salieu, 50 Cent, Travis Scott, Future and Louisiana emcee Juvenile.

Despite Pop Smoke’s seismic impact on the New York hip-hop scene, some older figures have asserted that his success was to the city’s detriment. During an interview last year, G-Unit legend Tony Yayo detailed how, although Pop’s rise was good for New York, it also led to more crime, revealing, “Now, New York is worse than Chicago, And California, with the drill, because n*ggas is throwing like n*ggas dead friends in there.”

He concluded, “When we had battle raps with Ja Rule and them, n*ggas was still alive. But there’s no remorse with the drill music. N*ggas shooting little kids.” You can see Pop Smoke’s ultimate party playlist below.

Pop Smoke’s ultimate party playlist:

• ‘Arabesque’ – Coldplay
• ‘Control The Party’ – Prospa
• ‘Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)’ – Bombay Bicycle Club
• ‘Welcome To The Party (Skepta Remix)’ – Pop Smoke & Skepta
• ‘Be Honest (Remix) (feat. Ms Banks)’ – Jorja Smith
• ‘Ever Again (Soulwax Remix)’ – Robyn
• ‘So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings’ – Caroline Polachek
• ‘Posthumous Forgiveness’ – Tame Impala
• ‘Kyle (I Found You)’ – Fred again..
• ‘Softly’ – Clairo
• ‘W (feat. Gunna)’ – Koffee
• ‘Frontline’ – Pa Salieu
• ‘Time Machine’ – Alicia Keys
• ‘Time Alone With You (feat. Daniel Caesar)’ – Jacob Collier
• ‘yellow is the colour of her eyes’ – Soccer Mommy
• ‘Welcome To The Party’ – Pop Smoke
• ‘Dior’ – Pop Smoke
• ‘If I Can’t’ – 50 Cent
• ‘Detox (feat. BBK)’ – Skepta
• ‘HIGHEST IN THE ROOM’ – Travis Scott
• ‘New Dior (feat. D‐Block Europe)’ – DigDat
• ‘Netflix & Chill’ – Fredo
• ‘Mask Off’ – Future
• ‘Back That Thang Up (feat. Mannie Fresh & Lil Wayne)’ – Juvenile
• ‘Heartstrings’ – STIIR
• ‘Thread The Needles Eye’ – Child Of The Parish
• ‘Die A Little Bit (feat. Ms Banks’) – Tinashe
• ‘Narcissus’ – Róisín Murphy
• ‘The Races’ – Sports Team
• ‘Take A Piece’ – The Big Moon
• ‘Toaster’ – slowthai