Virgil Abloh Designs Pop Smoke Album Cover, Twitter Wants A Refund
Source: Claudio Lavenia / Getty
Virgil Abloh had one job. And from Twitter’s reaction, the album cover the creative director cooked up for beloved, late rapper Pop Smoke is a dereliction of duty.
Ever since the artwork was revealed by music exec Steven Victor for the Brooklyn rapper’s posthumous Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon album, Virgil has been getting fully cooked on these Internets. The cover, a stock photo of Pop Smoke’s face with a background that incorporates barbed wire fencing (apparently a metaphor for thorns), left much to be desired from Virgil. In the original pic (see above), Pop Smoke is seen at Paris Fashion week in January 2020, rocking an Off-White coat outside the Off-White show.
Victor noted Pop Smoke wanted Virgil to lead the creative on the project.
“you were always shootings for the stars and aiming for the moon. everything we talked about is happening, the only thing is you’re not here in the flesh to see it all come together. you wanted Virgil to design your album cover and lead creative.. Virgil designed the album cover and led creative.. we love you and miss you more and more each day 
.”
Virgil also took to IG to share the cover as well as a tee from the merch tied to the project.
“the last conversation i had with @realpopsmoke was about what we we [sic] were gonna to do in the future. this album cover was one of like 5 things we talked about. he mentioned his story felt like the metaphor of a rose & thorns growing from concrete of of his hood in Canarsie, Brooklyn. in your memory i just finished it yesterday. as evident of the whole idea, the t-shirt insinuates it’s mandatory we put an and to this cycle of violence that plagues us, we need to shoot for the moon & aim for the stars. as heavy as it is we are celebrating your life the whole way thru.
rest in piece [sic] young one.
– signed 𝓛𝓸𝓾𝓲𝓼 𝓥ee, 𝓛𝓸𝓾𝓲𝓼 𝓥ee”
That’s all well and good, but Twitter is not pleased with what was delivered. Keep in mind that people been giving Virgil the side-eye even before ish hit the fan when he seemingly donated a measly $50 to Black Lives Matter protest bail fund, and in turn made “Virgil” a replacement for the number 50.
But to many half-assing it for a fallen rapper whose legion of fans have only grown exponentially and become even more passionate about his talents since his untimely passing was the final straw. People are even sharing their own covers that they whipped up on the fly that legit look better than Virgil’s entry. No shots.
The slander is only beginning, so we felt only right to document some of the best so far. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Virgil Abloh Designs Pop Smoke Album Cover, Twitter Wants A Refund was originally published on hiphopwired.com
