On Feb.
19, Pop Smoke was shot to death in a Hollywood Hills residence.
News of the artist’s death stunned fans and members of the hip-hop community alike.
Pop Smoke had been single-handedly responsible for popularizing the Brooklyn drill scene.
Just the week before, he had released his highly anticipated mixtape, “Meet the Woo 2”.
Amid the endless number of tributes to the artist, it has been difficult to ignore the underlying message... that some media outlets have sent while covering the rapper who exploded the industry with “Welcome to the Party".
The media has written Pop Smoke’s death off as one that was somehow expected.
Variety made little mention of Pop Smoke’s impact on hip-hop and instead devoted half of its article on his legal troubles.
One such incident occurred in October 2019 when the NYPD blocked him from performing at the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival.
"Officers claimed that the rappers had been ‘affiliated with recent acts of violence citywide,’ but did not specify any criminal behavior".
CNN also made note of the incident despite the fact that it had very little to do with Smoke's murder.
While the media has a duty to lay out all of the facts.
Coverage of Pop Smoke’s death shows that news outlets are also prone to perpetuating harmful stereotypes