Meet the Woo 2

Pop Smoke first posted the release date for Meet the Woo 2 in January 2020.[1][2] That month, Pop Smoke announced his first tour Meet the Woo Tour.[3][4] It was to support his first mixtape Meet the Woo and also Meet the Woo 2.[3][4] Pop Smoke had planned to start in the United States in March 2020 and finish in the United Kingdom the next month.[4][5] A few weeks later, Meet the Woo 2 was released on February 7, 2020.[6][7] The deluxe edition of Meet the Woo 2 was released on February 12, 2020.[8][9]

Meet the Woo 2 is a drill, hip hop, and electronic mixtape.[10][11] Pop Smoke declares in "Invincible," the mixtape's first track, that he is familiar with the ghetto.[12] The next song is a drill song called "Shake the Room" featuring Quavo.[13] It features mellow bass-driven woodwind instrumentation and vocal harmonies.[14] Hip hop song "Get Back" has a horn and string sample, a mellow piano melody, a bass rhythm, and police sirens.[15] The lyrics of the song are Pop Smoke's way of telling his enemies to stay away.[15] In the drill[16][17] track "Christopher Walking", Pop Smoke raps about comparing himself with Christopher Walken's portrayal of Frank White and mentions his liking for Dior, bust-downed jewelry, and shooting his rivals in the street.[18] The lyrics of 50 Cent's 2005 song "Window Shopper" are notably interpolated in the song.[19][20] "Sweetheart," a drill song featuring Fivio Foreign, had a deeper connection than rap according to Kyann-Sian Williams of NME.[21]

On "Element," Pop Smoke raps wicked lyrics over spooky instrumentation.[22] In November 2019, "Armed N Dangerous (Charlie Sloth Freestyle" was originally made available as a single titled "Fire in the Booth, Pt. 1," following Pop Smoke's trip to the United Kingdom to record the song with Charlie Sloth.[23] Pop Smoke raps on being related to the Crips gang in the lyrics.[24] The song "Mannequin," that features Lil Tjay, interpolates Ariana Grande's song "7 Rings".[25] Pop Smoke and Lil Tjay rap a tribute to fortune in this pop and trap song.[12][26] The song "Dreaming" has no clear melody and is almost entirely low sound.[10] In "She's Got a Thing," it has background singing and the lyrics are about sexual activities.[12][27] The bonus track "Dior" is a drill and hip hop single with lyrics about dating women and shopping for the newest clothes.[28][29][30][31] The last bonus track is a drill and hip hop song called "War" featuring Lil Tjay.[32]

A few days before to the release of "Christopher Walking", the mixtape's lead single, Pop Smoke shared a preview of it on Instagram.[18] In the preview, Pop Smoke called out fellow Brooklyn rappers Casanova and Smoove L, referring to them as "Trashanova" and "Scary L".[33][34] "Christopher Walking" was later released on January 16, 2020.[35] On the same day that the song was released, Brennan Rowe-directed music video for "Christopher Walking" was also made available.[36] As Pop Smoke drives through New York, he shows his style of clothing and accessories and talks with fans along the way.[18] In a later scene, old clips of Malcolm X, Blank Panther demonstrations, and other significant Black Americans are mixed together.[18][37]

On March 28, 2020, "Shake the Room" was made available as the second single from the mixtape.[38] On the same day that the song's single was released, a music video for it was as well.[39][40] It was created by Virgil Abloh in January 2020 in Paris during Paris Fashion Week.[41][42] It was Pop Smoke's first music video released following his death.[39][40] In the video, Pop Smoke and Quavo can be seen enjoying around a variety of activities in Paris, such as driving in a red Ferrari.[43][44] The song reached its positions at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 76 on the UK Singles Chart.[45][46]

On October 4, 2019, the standalone single "War" was made available.[47] On October 28, 2019, a JLShotThat-directed music video for the song was released.[48][49] The black-and-white video has footage of Pop Smoke and Lil Tjay in a big mansion riding motorcycles, performing live, and closing down a show.[32][48] Following Pop Smoke's murder, "War" made its Canadian Hot 100 debut, reaching its peak at number 100, and spent one week there in the March 6, 2020, issue.[50] "Element" also reached its highest spot at number 90 on the Canadian Hot 100.[50]

On July 26, 2019, "Dior" was first made available as the sixth song on "Meet the Woo."[51] On February 11, 2020, it was released as Meet the Woo's third and last single on American rhythmic contemporary radio.[52] JLShotThat directed, produced, and edited a music video for the song and it was released on September 3, 2019.[53] A group of men and women are seen dancing to the song in a strip club in a nearby parking lot, along with Pop Smoke.[53][54] "Dior" became the rapper's first solo and posthumous hit when it arrived at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 following his murder.[55] "Dior" then reached number 22 on the Hot 100 when Pop Smoke's posthumous debut studio album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon (2020) was released.[56] The song was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in November 2020.[57][58]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[64]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[26]
Exclaim!	8/10[12]
HipHopDX	4.1/5[65]
NME	[27]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[10]
RapReviews	6.5/10[66]

HipHopDX writer Bernadette Giacomazzo stated with upbeat sounds on Meet the Woo 2, Pop Smoke's "raw growling" was shocking and loud, but thought it was also effective.[65] Erin Lowers for Exclaim! said that even though the sound of Pop Smoke's voice was already unique to set him apart from other musicians from New York, he said the record "feels timely," and there is "energy" felt in his songs that keep the listener hooked. He declared that Meet the Woo 2 would allow people to remember his personality forever.[12] Fred Thomas of AllMusic mentioned it has "unrelentingly raw energy" that makes it one Pop Smoke's best mixtapes. He claimed that each song on the mixtape is filled with pleasure and disaster and is loaded with the "same tension that fills the room right before a fight breaks out. " He says in his conclusion that Pop Smoke made something that is "exhilaratingly bleak" and "always ready to explode".[26]

In a less positive review, Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews mentioned that the mixtape "regretfully" did not meet his expectations. He said that as a lyricist, Pop Smoke was "'just there' – not terrible, not brilliant, just okay." He did, however, say that Meet the Woo 2 showed that Pop Smoke had future potential.[66] Writing for NME, Kyann-Sian William said the mixtape features "slightly lackluster" songs, commenting that when A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie raps on "Foreigner", he gives a "sloppy delivery" and thought the song should not be on the mixtape. Although, she said the mixtape was for "the mosh-pitting party-goers".[27] Reed Jackson of Pitchfork said while Meet the Woo 2 is "all sort of sounds like 'Party'", it did not get the same attention as his first mixtape Meet the Woo because of its production and sound.[10]

With sales of 36,000 album-equivalent units, including 5,000 pure album sales in its first week, Meet the Woo 2 debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200 dated February 22, 2020,[67] giving Pop Smoke his first top-10 hit in the United States.[68][69] The mixtape also peaked at number five on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for having sold more than 500,000 album-equivalent units in the United States.[70][71]

On the February 14, 2020, edition of the UK Albums Chart, Meet the Woo 2 debuted at number 22.[72] The mixtape received attention following Pop Smoke's murder and reached number 16 on the chart for the week ending February 28, 2020, giving the rapper his first top-20 success in the United Kingdom.[73] For sales of 100,000 album-equivalent units in the United Kingdom, the British Phonographic Industry certified the mixtape silver.[74] Meet the Woo 2 further peaked within the top-30 of charts in Australia,[75] Canada,[76] Denmark,[77] the Netherlands,[78] Finland,[79] New Zealand,[80] Norway,[81] Sweden,[82] Switzerland,[83] and on the Belgium Flanders chart.[84]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer

Sample credits

• "Christopher Walking" contains interpolations from "Window Shopper", performed by 50 Cent.
• "Mannequin" contains interpolations from "7 Rings", performed by Ariana Grande.

Performers

Technical