Pop Smoke’s gravesite at a cemetery in Brooklyn has been vandalised this weekend, according to reports.
The rapper – whose real name was Bashar Barakah Jackson – was shot and killed in Los Angeles on February 19, 2020, when the house he was staying in was broken into by intruders. He was 20 years old.
- READ MORE: Pop Smoke – ‘Faith’ review: posthumous release eclipses its star with unnecessary features
According to TMZ, Jackson’s crypt at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery was broken into at some point between 2:30pm ET on Friday (September 10) and 2:00pm on Saturday (11). An employee at the cemetery called the NYPD after noticing the crypt had been damaged.
The damage reportedly hints that the vandals had tried to drag the star’s casket out. It wasn’t immediately clear if the casket was still intact. A marble plaque bearing Jackson’s name, which was situated on the outside wall of a mausoleum, was cracked and broken, while discarded joints and flowers were found on the floor in front of the crypt.
The damage caused is said to b around $500 (£361). There were no cameras in the area where Jackson’s crypt is and there are currently no suspects. Police are investigating the crime.
The second posthumous Pop Smoke album ‘Faith’ was released earlier this year, following last year’s ‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon’. In a review, NME said: “The 15-track record is oversaturated with unnecessary features, hindering the raw talent still left in these small leftover snippets from the Canarsie star.
“Weighed down by star power, which eclipses Pop Smoke, ‘Faith’ feels more disingenuous than its predecessor [‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon’].”
Jackson’s mother spoke earlier this year about listening to her son’s music after his death, saying it was “easier” to listen to ‘Faith’. “He does sound different on this, his sound, his style – it’s different,” she said in an interview.
