Label Founder Steven Victor Reflects on Pop Smoke’s Legacy

Steven Victor, the founder of the label Pop Smoke was signed to, took a moment to reflect on the late rapper’s legacy in a new interview.

Steven took the time to sit down with Variety, the founder explained what made Pop Smoke stand out from the rest. Pop Smoke was described as “super wise beyond his years and a very caring and thoughtful person” at only 19 years old. He added that “His determination; his passion; his ability to listen, internalize and digest things. His ability to make decisions — that’s very important. Having an objective outlook on the things, being able to listen.”

Steven also touched on the journey of completing the recent album ‘Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon’ without the rapper. He explained it  “super depressing” to finish the project without the rapper present.  He also explained how the small team worked day and night on the project until the day the album dropped. Steven would usually think about what Pop Smoke would’ve wanted and how he would’ve liked the album to sound. Pop Smoke wanted to become a global artist that was able to create music about all the different things that had impacted him in life. He said “He really loved R&B, Afrobeat, the drill sound, New York hip-hop. Putting all those things together and packaging it out, I’d think about the times we had together. Making sure that I put together something he’d be proud of.”

There was also a discussion about how Pop Smoke could possibly be nominated for Best New Artist at the GRAMMYs. Steven described this as a bittersweet moment. “I can see him being nominated pretty much for all the categories, with the exception of dance, rock, or country. In terms of song, hip-hop, all those categories, I wouldn’t be surprised he’s nominated given the depth of his catalog and the kind of music he makes.”