Bashar Barakah Jackson (July 20, 1999 – February 19, 2020), known professionally as Pop Smoke, was an American rapper and songwriter. He was signed to Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records. In April 2019, he released the song "Welcome to the Party", the lead single of his debut mixtape Meet the Woo, which was released in July 2019. "Welcome to the Party" was made into two remixes featuring Nicki Minaj and Skepta in August 2019.

In October 2019, he featured American rapper Lil Tjay on his single "War". In December 2019, he featured American rapper Calboy on his single "100k on a Coupe" and also collaborated with American rapper Travis Scott a few weeks later on the song "Gatti", from Scott and his Cactus Jack members' compilation album, JackBoys (2019). In February 2020, he released his second mixtape Meet the Woo 2, containing features from Quavo, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Fivio Foreign and Lil Tjay. Pop Smoke died on February 19, 2020, after being shot during a home invasion.

Biography and career

Bashar Barakah Jackson was born on July 20, 1999, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jamaican mother and a Panamanian father. He got into music in 2018 while hanging around other recording artists during their studio sessions. He initially began by remixing popular songs within the New York City drill music scene, before embarking on creating original music which catapulted him to fame. In a Genius interview, he stated that his artist name of Pop Smoke is a combination of Papa (a nickname given to him by his Panamanian grandmother) and Smoke Oh Guap (a nickname given to him by childhood friends).

In April 2019, he released his breakout single, "Welcome to the Party", the lead single of his debut mixtape, Meet the Woo (2019). The song was later remixed, featuring Nicki Minaj and Skepta in August 2019. The song was noted for its usage of UK drill production, later commonly seen throughout his discography. This was due to frequent collaborations with British drill producer 808Melo. Other well-known songs of his include: "Mpr", "Flexin" and "Dior". Following the rise to popularity of "Welcome to the Party", he collaborated with other popular artists on singles such as: "War" featuring Lil Tjay, "100k on a Coupe" featuring Calboy. In December, Pop was featured on "Gatti" with JackBoys and Travis Scott in, which was featured on the JackBoys (2019) album by Scott and his Cactus Jack members.

In February 2020, Pop Smoke released his second mixtape Meet the Woo 2 with features from Quavo, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Fivio Foreign and Lil Tjay. The following week of its release, a deluxe edition was released featuring three new songs including: "Wolves" with Nav, Dior (Remix) with Gunna and "Like Me" with PnB Rock.

Legal issues

On January 17, 2020, Jackson was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on a charge of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines. The vehicle was a Rolls-Royce Wraith, whose owner had reported it stolen after Jackson had reportedly borrowed it in California for a music video shoot on the condition it would be returned the next day. The car was recovered by authorities at Jackson's mother's house in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn, and sported Alabama license plates and tinted windows. Jackson pleaded not guilty and was released on $250,000 bail on the same day.

Death

Jackson died at age 20 on February 19, 2020, after being fatally shot during an invasion of his home in Hollywood Hills, California.