Pop Smoke just wants to cause chaos and dominate the playlists of every party before the NYPD inevitably shuts them down. It might be occasionally unimaginative, but overall Meet the Woo injects life into a Brooklyn drill scene that was running on fumes. His limitations as a writer are exposed on “Dior”-outside of the mesmerizing hook, which doubles as an Amiri Jeans ad, he sounds stuck, repurposing lines like “Bitch I’ma thot get me lit” and throwing in a lazy and unneccesary and homophobic one-liner. He doesn’t show a lot of lyrical creativity, but he can catch you off guard with his delivery: On “Better Have Your Gun,” he goes from ignorant bravado-“Shoot a nigga, go to jail for it/Cause I know I got the bail for it”-to demented and playful, whispering designer brands with a nightmarish echo on his voice. Of the new tracks, “Scenario” comes closest to recreating their magic: Pop Smoke’s voice is harrowing and Marvel-supervillain worthy, the beat a haunted amusement park. Previous singles “Meet the Woo” and “Welcome to the Party” lead off the mixtape and set its sinister tone. Meet the Woo doesn’t overthink this dilemma it’s just Pop Smoke taking nine swings at making the hardest, dirtiest shit he possibly can.
Even as 22Gz signed to Kodak Black’s Sniper Gang and Sheff G became a phenomenon in New York City high schools, the prevailing theory was that these guys would never break out of the Northeast unless they switched up their style. Ever since 22Gz’s “ Suburban” and Sheff G’s “ No Suburban,” Brooklyn drill has lingered in the shadows of its Chicago and UK counterparts.
Meet the Woo arrives at a pivotal moment for Brooklyn’s still-growing drill scene.
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