.Faith
| Pop Smoke
.Faith
Faith is the second posthumous studio album by American rapper Pop Smoke. It was released through Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records on July 16, 2021, four days before what would have been the rapper's 22nd birthday. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Pop Smoke’s second posthumous album sounds like it’s solely designed to generate clicks as a new generation of rap fans continues to be exploited for their streams.
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HipHopDX
POP SMOKE'S TEAM SHAMELESSLY CHOSE COMMERCIALISM OVER CREDIBILITY ON 'FAITH' ALBUM.
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Rolling Stone
The rapper’s second posthumous album has some dazzling moments, but ultimately feels like business as usual for an audience whose attention may be elsewhere.
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Hot New HipHop
The twenty-song project contains more filler than substance but the highs are a firm reminder of Pop Smoke’s colossal presence.
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NME
The Canarsie don's raw talent is overshadowed by superfluous guest spots on the second album to be released since his tragic death in 2020.
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Variety
You can say “if only” all you want about a dozen different artists, but “Faith” makes it clear Pop Smoke had a real future, with its show of soul and progress.
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Clash Magazine
Constructed with love, care, and attention, ‘Faith’ is a well-intended salute that contains some fantastic music. The spectre of the posthumous album has haunted hip-hop since the exploitation of 2Pac’s legacy, with fans remaining divided over their merits. ‘Faith’ succeeds by offering not ony an elegiac portrait of Pop Smoke, but also a vision of what he could have become.
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The Line of Best Fit
Faith is the ultimate affirmation of Pop Smoke’s musical transcendence.
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Sputnik Music
This project is truly the antithesis to Mac Miller's Circles - a sold out, profit-driven cash grab that completely butchers the final act of Pop Smoke's career. Fuck you Steven Victor and a double fuck you to every cunt involved in the making of this garbage.
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Ratings Game Music
Pop Smoke left quite the impression while he was still on this earth. I’m sure that everyone who listened to his music when he first came out knew that he had crazy potential. While you don’t quite get songs that sound complete, perfect, or even well-constructed on Faith, you do at least get to hear songs in which Pop shines bright..
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Exclaim!
despite poor production choices and lazy song structures, Pop Smoke's energy and solo spurts of brilliance won't allow for this stale posthumous release to tarnish his legacy.
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Fantastic Hip Hop
Going forward, I hope this is the last we ever hear from Pop as it’s clear his stash has been drained to the smallest shrivel, and with that, Republic Records has successfully exploited his death for their own benefit. Everyone who worked on this record should be ashamed of themselves.
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Giglist
Faith comes from a worthy instinct of respect, but, sadly, much of it feels gratuitous with Pop Smoke playing an all-too-absent role in his own memorial.
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HOLR Magazine
Paired with a few production choices that, when they aren’t indistinguishable from each other or from any other New York drill rapper’s beats, they’re oddly out of character for Pop’s voice and come off as an odd fit for an otherwise very adaptable rapper. Pop Smoke’s versatility is reflected on this album as a tracklist that’s unfocused and a broad range of ideas that feel left unfinished.
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North Texas Daily
I by no means can be the arbiter of what Pop Smoke wanted or desired with this album, but what I can say is that “Faith” is a cash grab. It’s clear there was not enough content for another posthumous album and his producers did it anyway. More than anything, this album is underwhelming, which is unfortunate because Pop Smoke deserves better than this. Rest in peace.
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Out the Box
It’s not like I expected it to be this bad, but its more like a understanding of how they treat someones legacy nowadays. I wont be surprised if Juice WRLD gets a posthumous treatment thats even worse than this.
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Hardwood and Hollywood
While Faith doesn’t cross into the realm of XXXTENTACION’s Bad Vibes Forever for poor quality posthumous LPs, this album is much rougher than expected. I along with most fans would hope this is the last album we see from Pop Smoke, as he will likely be featured in other albums in the future. May Bashar Barakah Jackson rest in peace after a short but well-remembered life.
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In Review Online
It aims to sound triumphant, but is so structurally incoherent that, between original intention and emended execution, it comes off as a mess, a stitched-together anthem that’s neither exciting nor enjoyable — which might be the most accurate description of the indecisive Faith that one can muster.
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Black Boy Bulletin
Faith is a cheap payday masquerading as a closure. Thankfully, this won’t be too big of a blemish on Pop’s legacy, but it does serve as a reminder that maybe we should let these artists rest peacefully. The smoke was never going to clear, we didn’t need Faith to confirm that.
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Spectrum Culture
At times, Faith is a clear-cut cash grab, but even when it isn’t, the lack of ambition and tendency to fill the album with pop rap that we’ve all heard some iteration of is painfully clear.
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Medium
This album just isn’t it for me, and not what I thought this album was going to be after listening to the few tracks led otherwise. I really feel like this had the significant chance to be very different and beautiful, not saying that it isn’t good music for the fans or whatnot.
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BasketRap
It isn’t the best Pop Smoke album possible — how could it be, considering it was released long after his untimely death — but Faith is nonetheless a satisfying ode to his legacy.
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The Needle Drop
As far as posthumous projects go, Faith isn't a total insult to Pop Smoke's memory, but it is quite a step down from Shoot for the Stars.
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Mic Cheque
When these songs are done, Faith leaves nothing else to vindicate Pop Smoke’s legacy. It is a plastic release that continues the industry habit of exploiting unfinished music from late artists. If there is faith to be found anywhere, it is with Pop Smoke’s earlier projects.
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