Genius Pageviews For Pop Smoke’s Lyrics Spiked 782 Percent After His Death

On February 19, Pop Smoke was shot and killed in a home invasion. The 20-year-old rapper was leading the Brooklyn drill scene into the mainstream, having just earned his first Top 10 entry on the Billboard 200 with his second mixtape, Meet the Woo 2. As fans mourned his death, they flocked to Genius to revisit the Canarsie, Brooklyn-raised MC’s lyrics, increasing his total pageviews by 782 percent.

Pop Smoke’s full catalog of lyrics earned 11,552 pageviews on February 18, the day before his death. On February 19, that total rose to 101,863, marking an increase of 782 percent. His pageview numbers remained strong on February 20, totaling 79,005 pageviews. Based on a two-day window, total pageviews across Pop Smoke’s catalog rose 660 percent.

“GATTI,” Pop Smoke’s JACKBOYS collaboration with Travis Scott, drew the most attention. His only Hot 100-charting hit rose from 1,434 pageviews on February 18 to 16,023 on the day of his death and 10,729 on February 20.

His breakout single, “Welcome to the Party,” saw a similar pageview spike, growing from 869 pageviews on February 18 to 15,601 on February 19. “Dior,” which was being pushed as Pop Smoke’s latest single, also received a massive overnight boost, reaching nearly 15,000 pageviews—up from 1,434 pageviews the day before.

Other songs from Pop Smoke’s catalog with sizable pageview increases include “PTSD,” “Invincible,” “Christopher Walking,” and his Lil Tjay collaboration, “War.” Each track reached 4,000 pageviews on February 19.

Billboard reports that Pop Smoke’s songs saw a similar streaming bump. Led by “Dior,” the tracks garnered 24.7 million on-demand streams in the US on February 19, up 392 percent from the day before.

“Dior” later debuted at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Pop Smoke’s hit on the chart:

LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division Capt. Jonathan Tippet told The Los Angeles Times that evidence suggests Pop Smoke’s fatal shooting was probably not the result of the robbery. They are currently looking at other motives.

Genius looked back at the legacy of Pop Smoke in the video below:

Catch up on all the lyrics to Pop Smoke’s full catalog on Genius now.