Virgil Abloh Responds To Criticism Against Pop Smoke’s Album Art

Pop Smoke’s posthumous album Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon is set to release this week. The album art was released on Instagram yesterday and received immediate backlash from the late artist’s supporters. Fans called the artwork “lazy” and accused the artist, Virgil Abloh of not putting enough effort into the cover.

In a since deleted Instagram post Virgil explained why he chose the route he did when making the piece. He states, “the last conversation I had with Pop Smoke was about what we were gonna 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 and 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 is it is we are celebrating your life the whole way thru. rest in peace young one.“

Do you guys agree with his thought process? Or, do you just see excuses from an artist that has already been under heavy scrutiny this year?