The highly-anticipated second posthumous album Faith from the late Pop Smoke is here. The 20-track project is filled with heavy-hitters like Pusha T, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Pharrell, Future, and more. The long list of collaborators basically looks like the poster for a Rolling Loud music festival. The album comes almost a year after his debut studio album Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon which became the longest-running No. 1 hip-hop/R&B album since 1990. Executive produced by 50 Cent, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon had a much more R&B feel to it with slower love songs that showed a softer side to Pop Smoke.
Faith takes you back to Pop Smoke’s roots of New York drill. The first song off the album “Good News” uses the beat from his highly successful 2019 single, “Welcome To The Party” and features spoken word from his mother. Throughout the album, his booming voice is paired with drum-dominant drill beats and is reminiscent of his mixtapes Meet The Woo and Meet The Woo 2. The few songs with sonic experimentation that deviate from classic drill are very much influenced by the features. “Demeanor” with Dua Lipa has a pop sound to it and “Top Shotta” with Pusha T, TRAVI, and Beam is The Neptunes take on a drill beat. Regardless of the beat, Pop Smoke’s cadence and flow pay homage to the style of rapping that he became known for with his inimitable deep voice.
“Look, Tyler got the album of the year, for now. But Pop about to drop. I see the platinum in the clouds,” says Pusha T on the song “Tell The Vision” with a confident prediction about the success of Faith. Only time will tell, but if Pop Smoke’s first posthumous album was any indication there will be many Billboard chart accolades and RIAA certifications in the near future.
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