Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, landed Friday to a warm reception from fans and plenty of critical acclaim. Today, Complex shared its new Complex Cover profiling the creation of the 50 Cent-produced project, interviewing 40 of Pop Smoke’s collaborators for stories on how it all came together.
One of those artists interviewed is Quavo, who appears on the project three times, including on one of the more attention-getting departure’s from Pop’s signature drill sound, “West Coast Sh*t” featuring Tyga. The song, produced by Mustard, proved to be a challenge for the young Brooklynite but Quavo says his faith in Pop Smoke helped bring the song together.
“You know, Pop was a New York drill rapper. He didn’t really know how to slide on that style. But I was telling him his voice was so amazing that he could rap on anything. And he was like, “No, man. I’m going to sound like 50 Cent. I want to sound like Pop.” I said, “That’s what I want you to sound like.” And the rest was history.”
Complex also spoke to Roddy Ricch, the other Compton rapper to appear on the project on the song “The Woo,” which also features 50 Cent. “I wasn’t able to catch up with Pop when he was around,” Roddy admits, but says that he was invited to be on the album by 50 — an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. “But just the guy he was, and the guy I am, I felt like it would happen organically to meet up and talk. Then 50 invited me to be on the album, which is hard. I just wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than life. I wanted to be part of something I felt like I should have been a part of in general.”
Read the full profile here.
Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon is out now via Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
