Brooklyn residents and fans alike gathered in the Brooklyn Museum on July 22 for the final event of the weekend-long celebration of Pop Smoke.
The Pop Smoke Gala, sponsored by fashion brand Black Smoke, concluded the weekend of celebrating Canarsie rapper Pop Smoke. Pop Smoke’s mother Audrey Jackson started Black Smoke in honor of the late rapper, who had an interest in many things, not just music. She acts as the chief curator of the brand.
“He wasn’t one of those who woke up with it — that ‘I think I’m going to be a rap star.’ He discovered that he could do it and he did it well, and he really was intentional about just using it to fund some of the things he wanted to do as a career or as his give-back to the world. And fashion was one of those,” said Jackson.
This event came almost two weeks after the clothing brand held a fashion show in Spain and Portugal. The gala featured a fashion show with five designers, a live dance performance from the dance group Creative Outlet, and live music from “The Voice” finalist Ali Caldwell.
After these performances was a final celebration where fans were able to celebrate Pop Smoke and New York City culture through his music and other songs reminiscent of Black Brooklyn, as presented by Hot 97’s DJ Young Chow. Attendees danced through drill, dancehall, and everything in between with both Audrey Jackson and Obasi Jackson, older brother of Pop Smoke, seen in the audience dancing along.
Attendees showed out the best way they knew how: singing along to the rapper’s songs and showing how Brooklyn gets down.