Pop Smoke, New York Drill Rapper, Dies At 20

NPR | By Sidney Madden

Published February 19, 2020 at 4:11 PM EST

Pop Smoke performing during the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Tx. in 2019. The rapper was killed during a home invasion on Feb. 19, 2020.

Brooklyn-hailing rapper Pop Smoke, who was born Bashar Barakah Jackson, died Wednesday morning, according to his record label. The rising act was killed during a Los Angeles home invasion on Feb. 19, 2020. He was 20 years old.

Pop Smoke was a rising start in the New York drill scene because his intensity made him an outlier. Everything about his demeanor and delivery stood out — his tongue-curling ad-lib, a sometimes disorienting flow and the type of gravel-gargling tone that stops music listeners in their tracks.

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Sidney Madden

Sidney Madden is a host and reporter for NPR Music. Since 2020, she has served as co-host and co-creator of Louder Than A Riot, NPR Music's first narrative investigative podcast that traces rhyme and punishment in America. Season 1 of Louder Than A Riot focuses on the relationship between hip-hop as an art form and mass incarceration and was recognized by The American Bar Association Silver Gavel Awards and the International Music Journalism Awards for outstanding reporting. Season 2 of Louder focuses on the relationship between hip-hop as a culture and misogynoir, the racist sexism against Black women and femmes. In addition to Louder Than A Riot, Madden serves as guest host of All Songs Considered where she interviews artists and musicians who push the boundaries of the music industry.