Pop Smoke’s Brother Reflects on His Legacy One Year Later

My friend comes to my bedroom and knocks on the door and says I have something to tell you. I hate to give you these noodles. I ask her what are you talking about and then she tells me that she is my

brother

. You have to go and I wonder why you would say that like you're playing, don't say that, I called my mom, I Googled it because people are quick with the news and then I waited, she said, that was said. They shot him and I died, nothing was said and then, 30 minutes and an hour

later

, that was it. top

smoke

's

brother

obasi jackson

reflects

on the

year

it's been since pop, the brooklyn rapper known for his baby face and bristly voice, was murdered, talk to me about how you feel now it's definitely better than when it started but there are days when it's really overwhelming for me it feels almost like it was yesterday that I lost my brother it's crazy to even imagine the fact that a whole

year

has passed and he's not here and then I have to keep doing that For the rest of my life, we're here and my family is strong and we're getting better, so God is good, I feel overbearing, like it's a feeling that just weighs on my shoulders.

Sometimes I get teary-eyed, you know, sometimes I want to hold them back, sometimes I let them out, sometimes I get angry, sometimes I just go out and try to have fun, the struggle sometimes to even get up, sometimes it's crazy. It's an experience we're going through right now, but you know, I said God is good, so in February 2020, Pop Smoke was in California staying in a rented house in the Hollywood Hills owned by the star of Real Housewives, Teddy Mellencamp, in the early hours of February 19. The men allegedly broke into that home and shot the 20-year-old multiple times 4 55 This morning, several Hollywood LAPD units responded to a call when officers arrived there approximately six minutes

later

and discovered that a victim inside the home had shot and pronounced dead at the hospital obasi was at university on long island when it happened that day went by so fast from there i went from school back to my house from my house to cali literally in like an hour i was on a flight to cali went to cali took I took care of it for about three days and came back all weekend, the rest of that week I should say, it was just a blob, it just went away, came and went like that, just like that in At the time of his death, pop was riding the wave of success. of his singles welcome to the party and dior who brought the Brooklyn drill sound to a national stage, a lot of people, as you know, dig into their past and say well hey, he did it x and this was the result or it may have been involved or had a slightly checkered past and you know that certain things that he said and rapped came true, what do you say to people who say that's a line because it's a narrative when you're in an environment and things are taking?

The place where your art is going to show a representation of where you are, you are a product of that environment now is that it can make you work or break you, there are some people that do that and they can go off the rails and there are some people like a puppy that will then tell you that I made these decisions and being so young I was like an old school cat from the 90s or someone talking to little kids like "don't do that, even if it's a bad choice, don't do it." Don't say this, don't do that, stick to the books In Canarsie, Brooklyn, just before coronavirus lockdowns went into effect, thousands gathered to watch a motorcade carrying the artist's body through their neighborhood for the last time during the summer weeks before what would have been his 21st birthday.

Birthday Smoke Pop's studio album Shoot for the Stars Headed for the Moon was released posthumously 50 Cents Helped Produce the Project So 50 I Definitely Thank You You Know Saying who definitely came in here talking about mom like once or twice he was with Stephen and them and he definitely just brought the artist together and did what he had to do on that executive side to make sure that pop had the best project possible within the framework of time they had, you know, despite all the cover they had, a little bit, yeah, I don't know. I don't know, listen this day, I don't even know, can we talk about it?

I don't know what it is, no, you're good, you're so funny, the Internet had a moment, oh, everyone was making a fuss because the cover originally seemed a little crazy, it seemed a little yeah, it seemed a little crazy, I'm glad that people saw it and then we all got together and fixed it, so it was a blessing. Pop deserves nothing but the best. tell me about your favorite pop memory, yeah, after church, they had a playground in our parking lot, we also had a little basketball court and we would run to church and it was always a race to the, you know, it was a race to the playground, so it was all like who could go the fastest, who could do it better, that was always a competition, but we were always doing something at church, whether it was basketball, swinging, just running, running between the cars , running through the pews and aisles of In the church were fun moments where everything felt free and natural.

I tell my man all the time that the courage that he had I wish I had because he was out there when people say they know him, they know him, there was a time. I'm driving with him on Rockaway Avenue, I think I'm going to get off. He just stops at the spot where you yelled at the car and there's like three four people on the block. I ask him: how do you know anything other than them? all your ball, but this is a little before music went crazy, so people already knew about it. Wow, and that's the thing, when people say they love pop, they got love before they really loved it, like you know what I'm saying.

They say they are outside, yes, yes, he was outside. Wow, he really was on February 19 at 4 am. A gun was used to take my son away from me. You know it as pop

smoke

. We call him Shar. A lot had happened to him over the years. My mom, my dad, myself, it wasn't easy, but they did the best they could and he came out despite everything, he got to the top, he showed the world, he showed everyone who hated how different, he deserved everything. fame and celebrity status. the money he deserved because he worked and strived for it he didn't let anyone tell him no this is especially true when you look at where his career could have gone pop smoke was starting to act his debut will come in the movie boogie Go back to the locker room about a skilled basketball player named Alfred Boogie Chin with the goal of reaching the NBA that will launch in March.

Obasi is also forging his own career in music. You don't have to leave your drink without a free drink. and hot but don't look for it to imitate the sound of its little brother, it's focused more on rmb and neo-soul that's why I'm trying to bring back r b, I'm not saying it's dead and people aren't doing it, but I want it . To be great you have to have fun, so I know you talked about this before, but are you seeing a therapist or something? What do you do to eliminate all the negativity you say you receive?

At ease now I'm just focusing on my music, you know, focus on getting better. I'm relaxing with friends by playing more. I stopped playing video games years ago. I'm playing them again. I pick up my guitar again. I'm trying. focus on myself and try to get to a place where I used to be where I felt happy, see if I could recreate it with what I know now and evolve in the years since Obasi also graduated from five town university while his parents broke their silence . With this psa against violence, armed violence destroys families, you should stop my mother, yell at her and yell at my father, they are two of the strongest people I know, you know they have lost their son in a public like this. knowing the light and then continuing to work and going through their everyday lives as if it didn't happen, but them, I know it happened and we know it happened, but just seeing their strength is commendable and it's inspiring to both of me.

Men Corey Walker, 19, and Keiondre Rogers, 18, were charged with murder. Walker pleaded not guilty in October 2020. Rogers was transferred to juvenile court last year because he was 17 at the time of Pop's death. smoke the other two were minors ages 15 and 17 their names have not been released due to their age each has been charged with one count of murder and robbery in juvenile court the four suspects are due back in court at the end of february a The fifth person was also initially arrested but was not charged in connection with this case according to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

Corey Walker, 19, was charged with murder with a special circumstance allegation that would make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted since the alleged murder was committed while other alleged crimes, robbery and larceny, were already in progress at that time. Four of the five people who were arrested were teenagers. Two of them were minors. How did that make you feel? I mean, this is crazy because it's like why is that acceptable? These kids should want to aspire to be better, like you don't have to do this to survive, you don't have to take this from another man or take someone's life to gain status or to feel some kind of emptiness.

Within you, what does justice look like for Bashar? Justice for Bashar just seems to do what's best for him and that doesn't, and that means sometimes putting yourself aside, you know, your ego, the side that you know, saying to realize that there's something bigger. image that we have at hand, the trial is approaching, I mean, the case is going to be handled one way or another, but I feel that true justice will come for the people who say they love him and that's me included, you know, so it's just us. It's up to us to do the right thing.

Is there anything a judge can say? Any sentence that can be passed that makes you feel good? Obviously, there's nothing that can bring him back, but is there anything that can be like? Know? what was the right thing to do that was the right sentence oh no and I don't even want to speak out of turn so I'm just going to leave it at that I don't want I wouldn't I want someone to lose a life but at the end of the day I also feel like it should be an offer or no and that people should get what they deserve.

That's another deadline that I don't even want to try to miss, so I think that's how God is going to do what God is going to do for the in-house digital edition. I'm Stephanie Officer.