Pop Smoke's Faith Returns With Deluxe Edition of Unheard Verses

Pop Smoke's estate and Victor Victor Worldwide have revealed a deluxe edition of the late Brooklyn rapper's second posthumous studio album, Faith, arriving with a clutch of unreleased verses and freshly polished tracks. The expansion lands more than five years after the original LP debuted in 2021, and arrives during a period when the artist's catalogue has continued to chart across streaming platforms worldwide. For listeners who grew up with the woozy drill anthems of Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, this refreshed cut offers another chance to sit with verses that Pop Smoke recorded before his death in February 2020.

The rollout arrives at a moment when hip hop is still reckoning with how to handle an artist's unfinished work. In the years since Pop Smoke's passing, labels have leaned heavily into vault material, balancing commercial appetite against questions of legacy and authenticity. Faith itself was the first project released after his death without any of his original creative direction, making this deluxe version a corrective of sorts, with producers tightening mixes and bringing in voices that Pop Smoke had reportedly wanted.

Australian listeners have had a particular fondness for the rapper's catalogue since drill crossed the Pacific, and the deluxe announcement quickly trended on local hip hop forums from Melbourne to Perth. The response mirrors the broader pattern of New York drill finding a second life in the southern hemisphere, where artists like Masked Wolf and the Adelaide-based collective ONEFOUR have openly cited the genre's influence on their sound.

The expanded tracklist

The deluxe edition of Faith adds seven previously unheard recordings to the original seventeen-track lineup, pushing the runtime past seventy minutes. Among the new additions is a solo cut reportedly recorded during the same Brooklyn sessions that produced Dior, alongside a posse track featuring a verse that Pop Smoke reportedly laid down with British rapper Skepta in mind. The sequencing has been reworked so that the new material sits closer to the album's emotional centre, rather than being tacked on as bonus content at the end.

Engineers have also restored some of the original demo vocals that had been layered over by other artists on the standard edition. Listeners will hear Pop Smoke's ad-libs sitting closer to the front of the mix, a choice that producer Rico Love has hinted at in recent interviews. The deluxe version retains every collaboration from the original release, including the Pharrell-led Spread the Word and the Kanye West-assisted Tell the Vision, giving fans both the familiar hits and a deeper cut into the studio process.

Behind the production

Credit for the expanded release runs across a familiar roster of Pop Smoke collaborators, including 808Melo, CashMoneyAP, and Rico Love, alongside newer names from the UK and Caribbean drill scenes. Victor Victor Worldwide confirmed that the mixing was handled largely at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with final mastering completed in late 2024. The engineering team reportedly pulled from hundreds of unreleased stems left in Pop Smoke's hard drive, winnowing the material down to a tight seven new songs.

Industry observers in Australia have pointed out that the production roster reflects how localised hip hop production has become, with engineers in London, Lagos, and Sydney all contributing to drill's global sound. The deluxe credits list several Sydney-based engineers who worked on vinyl master cuts, a small but telling detail given Australia's growing footprint in physical release manufacturing. Under Australian copyright law, posthumous works sit within a specific framework that requires estate approval for any new commercial use of recordings, a process that has shaped how the deluxe rollout has been structured.

An Australian connection

The drill wave that Pop Smoke helped popularise found fertile ground in Sydney's south-west and western suburbs, where crews began translating the template into local stories of postcodes, policing, and partying. Triple J has regularly rotated Pop Smoke tracks since 2020, with What You Know Bout Love reaching the station's Hottest 100 countdown in consecutive years. Melbourne's Forum venue hosted a tribute listening party within weeks of the original album release, and similar gatherings are now being organised around the deluxe drop.

Local artists have been quick to share their reactions. Brisbane rapper Kerser posted an Instagram story showing his first listen to the new verses, while Western Australian drill collective Shadow Line scheduled a listening session at a Perth studio. Community organisations working with young people across the country have pointed to drill's reach as a reason to invest in local recording programs, with some groups reaching out to international partners for resources, including youth creative programs that support emerging musicians through mentorship and studio access.

Chart performance and streaming impact

The original Faith debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and peaked inside the ARIA top ten in Australia, supported by strong streaming numbers through Spotify and Apple Music. Industry analysts expect the deluxe to re-enter the ARIA charts in its first week of release, particularly given the catalogue boost that tends to follow posthumous expansions. Pre-save campaigns on Spotify had already pushed Dior and For the Night back into Australian viral charts ahead of the official drop.

Physical release plans include a standard black vinyl and a limited picture disc, with Australian distributors confirming allocation through both major retailers and independent record stores in Melbourne's Acland Street strip and Sydney's Glebe. Under the Australasian Performing Right Association's licensing framework, the deluxe tracks will generate mechanical royalties for the credited producers and writers, ensuring that the estate and collaborators receive their statutory share under local legislation.

Visual identity and accompanying visuals

The deluxe edition arrives with refreshed cover art that blends the original Faith imagery with archival photography from Pop Smoke's late teens. The packaging includes a thirty-two page booklet featuring lyrics, studio notes, and personal photos selected by the estate. Two of the new tracks have been paired with official visualisers, directed by a London-based filmmaker who previously worked on the Dior video.

For Australian fans, the visual rollout has been paired with pop-up listening installations in Sydney's Newtown and Melbourne's Fitzroy, where independent galleries have hosted vinyl playbacks alongside streetwear exhibitions inspired by the rapper's aesthetic. The installations, organised in partnership with local streetwear labels, reflect how Pop Smoke's image has been absorbed into Australian fashion and club culture.

Posthumous releases in modern hip hop

The Faith deluxe joins a crowded field of posthumous hip hop releases that have shaped the past half-decade, from Mac Miller's Circles companion pieces to Pop Smoke's own Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon. Critics continue to debate where the line sits between honouring an artist's vision and extending a catalogue for commercial gain. The involvement of close collaborators, family members of the estate, and trusted producers has become a common defence against accusations of exploitation.

For Australian hip hop specifically, the conversation has rippled through local scenes where artists have begun writing their own wills and creative directives. Several Sydney-based managers have started advising their clients to formalise vault access policies, drawing on lessons learned from the Pop Smoke catalogue rollout. The deluxe edition of Faith is likely to be studied as a case study in how to thread that needle, particularly given the unusually clean reception it has received from longtime fans.

Feature	Original Faith	Deluxe edition
Track count	17 songs	24 songs
Runtime	52 minutes	71 minutes
New verses	None	Seven unreleased cuts
Engineering	2021 mix	Remixed with restored demo vocals
Physical release	CD, standard vinyl	Vinyl, picture disc, expanded CD booklet

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