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Pop Smoke Streams Up 392% as Fans Mourns Rapper's Death

By Kevin Rutherford
2/21/2020
By Kevin Rutherford
2/21/2020
Pop Smoke
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

Pop Smoke performs onstage during day 2 of the Rolling Loud Festival at Banc of California Stadium on Dec. 15, 2019 in Los Angeles.

The Brooklyn-born rapper died Feb. 19 in a home invasion in Los Angeles.

Streams of Pop Smoke’s catalog of songs leaped 392% on Feb. 19, the day it was revealed the rapper had been shot and killed in a home invasion in California, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.

In all, Pop Smoke’s songs collected 24.7 million on-demand streams in the U.S. on Feb. 19, up 392% from 5 million streams on Feb. 18, according to initial reports to the tracking firm.

“Dior,” originally released on the New York-born artist’s 2019 album Meet the Woo, led the way with 5.2 million streams on Feb. 19, up 467% from 909,000 on Feb. 18.

Artist Mentioned

Pop Smoke

“Better Have Your Gun,” meanwhile, saw the largest percentage gain, up 783% to 202,000 streams on Feb. 19.

The rapper’s sales figures jumped as well, including an 984% increase for digital downloads of his songs from Feb. 18 to Feb. 19 (3,000 downloads in all, led again by “Dior” with 1,000) and 12,179% jump in album sales from Feb. 18 to Feb. 19 (4,000 total, paced by new album Meet the Woo 2 with 3,000).

The gains should translate to movement for Pop Smoke’s catalog on the Billboard charts dated Feb. 29. This week’s Feb. 22-dated Billboard 200 sees Meet the Woo 2 debut at No. 7 with 36,000 equivalent album units earned, marking the rapper’s first top 10.  

Pop Smoke, born Bashar Jackson, died Feb. 19 at a home in Los Angeles. No suspects have yet been arrested, and police say a motive is not currently known.  

By Kevin Rutherford
2/21/2020

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