There have been two posthumous releases from Pop Smoke following his death in February 2020, but the rapper’s close friend Mike Dee says there probably isn’t much more unreleased music on the way.
The late Brooklyn drill MC’s friend recently stopped by for an interview with Rap TV, explaining he was mostly kept out of the loop for the second posthumous record Faith.
“I was around when he was recording most of the original songs, then when I heard the album, it was completely different,” Dee said. “New artists on there, new beats, so I was confused about that.” According to Dee, he didn’t hear about the existence of Faith until Pop’s label and team announced it on social media, adding, “They didn’t call me to come to the studio or help out.”
“I didn’t know that they were dropping all those songs,” said Dee, who suggested he would’ve staggered the release of Pop’s unreleased music a little more. “In my opinion, instead of dropping all 30 songs, I would have waited. Maybe 10 now, 10 the next year, that way his name would stay alive, instead of dropping it all at one time. … I’m guessing this is it, what he had left in the vault, this is the end.”
Pressed for more information, Dee implied he didn’t know the full extent of what Pop had left in the vault when he passed, but it’s a strong possibility. “I mean who knows, they might have a few [verses] left from different artists he did songs with, but I think this might be it.”
It remains to be seen if much more Smoke material remains unreleased, but from what Dee has to say it would appear the July 16 full-length is the last of its kind.
A rep for the late rapper had no comment when Complex inquired about the amount of Pop Smoke music that is currently unreleased.
Shortly after the release of Faith, an additional five tracks were added as part of the deluxe edition. The record followed the release of Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, Pop’s debut album which arrived less than six months after his death. Both releases debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Pop’s life and career was recently detailed in Complex and Spotify’s Complex Subject: Pop Smoke podcast, which you can listen to here and get some behind-the-scenes info via Pvnch here.
