Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon

Before the album, Pop Smoke had two posthumous guest appearances, both released on May 8, 2020. He was featured on "Run It Up" by Canadian rapper Nav from his third studio album, Good Intentions. He was featured alongside American rapper Fivio Foreign on "Zoo York" by American rapper Lil Tjay from his commercial mixtape, State of Emergency.

Originally announced on May 14, 2020, the album had a planned release date of June 12, 2020.[7] However, the album's lead single, "Make It Rain", featuring American rapper Rowdy Rebel, was released instead, and it was announced that the album had been pushed back to July 3, 2020, out of respect for the George Floyd protests against police brutality and systemic racism.[7][8] The album name was revealed on June 16, 2020, as it was made available for pre-order on his online store.[9] It was also announced that Pop Smoke's estate had signed a co-publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music, covering all his past music as well as the upcoming album.[10][11]

The tracklist was revealed on June 29, along with new artwork.[12] However, the Virgil Abloh-designed piece was met with significant criticism from fans who called it "lazy" and "rushed" and felt it was disrespectful, even prompting a Change.org petition with tens of thousands of signatures.[13][14][15] Notably, the picture of Pop Smoke that Abloh used was the very first result on Google Images.[16] Only a few hours later, the label announced that it would be replaced in time for the release date.[17][18]

50 Cent further criticized his work and posted over 35 fan-made designs, saying that "they ain't going for this bullshit".[19][20]

After posting an explanation that he based the design on a conversation he had with Pop Smoke, Abloh was accused by a conceptual artist Ryder Ripps of stealing his chrome rose concept and "[ruining] it with a careless design", adding that it was "so sad that someone would care this little about art, design and the memory of a human who was so loved to wrap his name up in lies and theft."[21] Ripps created the final cover art with the chrome rose against black background.[22]

The final album cover was revealed just hours before the album was commercially released and was chosen by his mother.[23]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.4/10[24]
Metacritic	70/100[25]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[26]
Consequence of Sound	B+[27]
Entertainment Weekly	B[28]
The Independent	[29]
NME	[30]
Paste Magazine	7.2/10[31]
Pitchfork	6.5/10[32]
Rolling Stone	[33]
Slant Magazine	[34]

Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon received generally positive reviews. on Metacritic, the album has an aggregate score of 70 out of 100, based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25]

Dhruva Balram of NME wrote that the posthumous album is "measured with care", complimenting the production and Pop Smoke's ventures into different genres: "Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon showcases a multi-faceted artist only just discovering his potential. What makes the album truly stand out is that it serves as a testament to the strength, power and knowledge Smoke held in his ambition to go to the very top. Tragically, his death prematurely vaulted him there, but at least this posthumous release will serve as a lasting reminder of Smoke's immense talent."[30] Danny Schwartz of Rolling Stone wrote that "While Stars features a handful of hell-raisers in the vein of the Woo tapes, it also works to merge drill's swooping rhythms with the kind of austere Atlanta trap that Migos and Zaytoven mastered mid-decade, as well as the arpeggiated guitar lines that ornament the music of A Boogie, Gunna, and other melody-minded rappers."[33] Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork wrote that the album "attempts to cement his legacy by expanding his world". Pierre praised the album for being "big, polished, versatile, feature-packed, and loaded with radio and playlist-friendly records."[32] Wongo Okon of Uproxx wrote that Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon aimed to "bring the Brooklyn rapper's name, sound, and presence to previously untouched corners and uncharted roads once and for all", with the hope of "making Pop Smoke larger than the life he lived."[35]

Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 with 251,000 album-equivalent units (including 72,000 pure album sales) in its first week. This became Pop Smoke's first US number one debut. The album also accumulated a total of 268.44 million on-demand streams of the set's tracks in the week ending July 18. It made Pop Smoke the first hip hop act in history to posthumously debut at number one on the Billboard 200 with a debut studio album. He joined The Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, XXXTentacion, and Juice Wrld as the only hip hop acts in history to posthumously hit number one.[36] Additionally, all 19 tracks on the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 following its first week of release. Pop Smoke held the record for the most simultaneous songs on the Hot 100 posthumously for a week, however lost that the next week due to Juice Wrld. The late American rappers XXXTentacion and Mac Miller previously held the record with ten each.[37] The album later returned to number one on the Billboard 200, after a three-month break. It was the second album in 2020, after Lil Baby's My Turn, to have a lengthy wait between weeks at number one.[38]

Internationally, the album also debuted at number one in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland, while reaching the top ten in several other countries. The album later reached number one in the United Kingdom, in its twelfth week on the charts.[39]

Track listing adapted from Tidal.[40]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[c]} signifies an uncredited co-producer[43]
• ^{^[d]} signifies an uncredited co-writer[44]
• "Tunnel Vision" features additional vocals from Dread Woo, Mike D, and Xiarra Nimrod.
• "Yea Yea" features uncredited background vocals from Geo Vocals.[45]
• "Diana" features uncredited background vocals from Calboy on the original album, however features and credits him on the remix on the deluxe.[46]
• "Paranoia" featuring Gunna and Young Thug was originally on the track list of the original album with an extra feature from Pusha T. However, it was included on the deluxe edition, without Pusha's verse.[47]

Sample credits

• "The Woo" contains interpolations of "Candy Shop", written and performed by Curtis Jackson III also known as 50 Cent.[48]
• "Enjoy Yourself" contains a sample of "Drink Freely", written by Karim Kharbouch, Richard Butler, Jr. and Pierre Meador, as performed by French Montana.[49]
• "Something Special" contains a sample of "Into You", written by John Jackson, Tamia Washington, Ernesto Shaw, Tim Kelley, Lionel Richie and Ronald LaPread, as performed by Fabolous.[50]
• "What You Know Bout Love" contains a sample of "Differences", written by Elgin Lumpkin and Troy Oliver, as performed by Ginuwine.[34]
• "Diana" contains a sample of "Cheers 2 U", written by Jawaan Peacock, Benjamin Bush, Stephen Garrett and Timothy Mosley, as performed by Playa.
• "Got It on Me" contains interpolations of "Many Men (Wish Death)", written by Curtis Jackson III, Darrell Branch, and Luis Resto, as performed by 50 Cent.[41]
• "Hotel Lobby" contains interpolations of "If I Can't", written by Curtis Jackson III, Andre Young, and Mike Elizondo, as performed by 50 Cent.
• "Imperfections" (Interlude) contains interpolations of "Let Me Love You", written by Shaffer Smith, Kameron Houff, and Scott Storch, as performed by Mario.

• The Making of Pop Smoke's Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon on Complex