"Welcome to the Party" is the debut single by American rapper Pop Smoke from his debut mixtape ''

Meet the Woo ''Meet the Woo'' (alternatively titled ''Meet the Woo, Vol. 1'') is the debut mixtape by American rapper Pop Smoke. It was released by Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records on July 26, 2019. ''Meet the Woo'' is a drill and grime record. Al ...

'' (2019). It was released on April 23, 2019, by

Victor Victor Worldwide Steven William Victor (born September 6, 1980) is a Haitian-American record executive, artist manager, music publisher, and A&R representative. He is the founder & CEO of Victor Victor Worldwide and SVP of A&R at Universal Music Group. He forme ...

and Republic Records. The song was written by the rapper and 808Melo, with the latter solely producing it. The official remix for "Welcome to the Party" was released on August 15, 2019, with fellow New York rapper

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

. A remix with British rapper Skepta was also released on August 21, 2019. Both remixes were later released on the reissue deluxe release of ''Meet the Woo''. A drill track, Pop Smoke raps about the streets and gang members. The song received positive reviews from music critics, with many praising it for introducing drill music to the mainstream. The song featured on 2019 year-end lists by ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''

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''. The remix featuring Minaj peaked at number five on the US ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

and number 48 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. It was certified a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). An accompanying music video for "Welcome to the Party" was directed by GoddyGoddy and released on May 28, 2019. The visual features a group of men saying the names of people who are dead or imprisoned while Pop Smoke raps the song and holds a small child in his arms. The rapper promoted the song by performing it for VevoDSCVR and MTV's ''

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'' offshoot program ''Fresh Out Friday''.

Background and recording

Pop Smoke began his music career in 2018 when visiting a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

recording studio with fellow rapper Jay Gwuapo. After Gwuapo got high on drugs, he fell asleep. Pop Smoke went into a recording booth to try rapping for the first time, just to see if he could do it. He used a beat he got from British producer 808Melo's YouTube channel and recorded a remixed version of

Sheff G Michael Kyle Williams (born September 23, 1998), known professionally as Sheff G, is an American rapper from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. He rose to fame with his single "No Suburban" in 2017 which was a response to the song "Subu ...

's 2017 single "Panic Part 3" titled "Mpr (Panic Part 3 Remix)". The rapper wrote "Welcome to the Party" in his bedroom in a span of half an hour. In April 2019, Pop Smoke befriended American producer

Rico Beats Ricardo Lamarre, known professionally as Rico Beats, is an American record executive, record producer, and songwriter. His most notable production credits are DJ Khaled's "Take That Off", Nicki Minaj's " Roman Reloaded", Soulja Boy's " Mean Mug" ...

, who was acquainted with record executive Steven Victor. The three set up an interview, and in April 2019, Pop Smoke signed to

, a subsidiary of Universal Music. On April 23, 2019, Pop Smoke released "Welcome to the Party", the lead single off his debut mixtape ''

'' (2019). The single was a breakout in New York, gathering millions of views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Composition

Musically, "Welcome to the Party" is a drill track. The song has been labelled "chaotic", and features "sinister and violent" lyrics, with Pop Smoke's voice singled out for being "preposterously" and "hauntingly" deep. ''

'' magazine's Jessica McKinney called the song "distinctly

", due to Pop Smoke's thick accent and the drill beat from producer 808Melo, which ''

'' noted as being "haphazard and bass-heavy". The staff of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' wrote: " heU.K.-grime-infused tune coupled with Pop's baritone and unconventional delivery captivated everyone from the streets of Brooklyn to the rest of the world". Pop Smoke told Genius that "Welcome to the Party" was not about girls but the streets and gangs.

Critical reception

Many critics considered "Welcome to the Party" to be the anthem of New York and the anthem of summer 2019. Alphonse Pierre of ''

'' commented it was "his borough's current summer anthem".

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Caramanica received his bachelor's degree ...

of ''

'' stated the song is a "savagely intense growl that became one of hip-hop's songs of the summer". ''

'' mentioned it quickly "became one of New York's summer anthems". Briana Younger of

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opined the song "remains an artifact of the New York summer". Dhruva Balram of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' said that the song made the "world stand up and pay attention to Pop Smoke's charisma and talent", and that it was "arguably, the song of summer

019 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. Trey Alston of MTV stated that listening to "Welcome to the Party" felt like " 50 Cent's rise all over again". Writing for '' Billboard'' magazine, Michael Saponara mentioned "Welcome to the Party" was the "record to put the hip-hop world on notice that Pop Smoke had plans of being much more than a local Brooklyn phenom". Hannah Giorgis of ''

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'' described the track as a "boisterous anthem", and said it "dominated social events and city streets all summer". Chris Richards of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' depicted the song had "already been oozing out of cracked car windows in op Smoke'snative Brooklyn for an entire summer". Paul Thompson of '' GQ'' opined it was a "hypnotic study in tone", and that "it did feel like party music, capable of cutting through the humidity and making swaths of people dance, or at least move their shoulders a little bit while they grimaced into their phones' cameras". Thomas Hobb of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' lauded the track as exhilarating, and opined it "bottled the energy of free-falling between two skyscrapers, cape flapping behind, as the street-smart MC convincingly framed himself as a black superhero". The song featured on 2020 year-end lists by ''Complex'' (17), ''The New York Times'' (one), ''Pitchfork'' (41), and ''

'' (three).

Remixes

After gaining popularity, the song was remixed by ASAP Ferg,

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 201 ...

, Rico Nasty, Skepta,

Headie One Irving Ampofo Adjei (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Headie One (formerly Headz), is a British rapper and singer. In 2018 he released his second solo mixtape, titled ‘''The One’'', which included the single "Know Better" featur ...

Dave East David Lawrence Brewster Jr. (born June 3, 1988), better known by his stage name Dave East, is an American rapper. East began his career in 2010, and gained attention in 2014 from his eighth mixtape, ''Black Rose''. Its release garnered the attent ...

and Kiing Shooter, and

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...

. Pop Smoke first revealed the official remix of "Welcome to the Party" featuring American rapper

, at a listening party in July 2019. It was later released on August 16, 2019. A second remix, featuring British rapper Skepta, was released on August 21, 2019. Both remixes were later included on the reissue deluxe release of ''Meet the Woo''.

Commercial performance

The remix featuring Minaj peaked at number five on the ''Billboard''

chart. The remix featuring Minaj also peaked at number 48 on the US

chart. In May 2020, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified "Welcome to the Party" gold for selling 500,000 certified units, making it Pop Smoke's first song to gain a gold certification in the United States. The song was later certified platinum by the RIAA for sales and streams of over 1,000,000 units in the US.

Promotion

A music video for "Welcome to the Party" was released on May 28, 2019. The visual was directed, produced, and edited by GoddyGoddy. The video opens up with a group of young men saying the names of people who dead or imprisoned, while a red-lettered warning about prop guns flashes on the screen. Pop Smoke raps with a small child in his arms and while a teenager is in a few scenes. A bottle of champagne is uncorked to the beat of the song. ''Pitchfork'' ranked the music video at number 18 on their ''The 20 Best Music Videos of 2019'', with Sam Sodomsky saying the video "operates with a similarly captivating and elusive energy. Interrupted by occasional sci-fi special effects, as if the Canarsie native op Smokeis being magically teleported around Brooklyn before our very eyes". He said it "all suits the intensity". In October 2019, Pop Smoke performed "Welcome to the Party" live on MTV's ''

'' offshoot program ''Fresh Out Friday''. A month later, he performed the song for VevoDSCVR, a platform showcasing emerging young artists. In February of the next year, shortly after his death, the Yard Club in Paris, France, debuted an on-stage

hologram Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, i ...

of Pop Smoke that virtually performed "Welcome to the Party".

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Pop Smoke 2019 debut singles 2019 songs Pop Smoke songs Songs written by Pop Smoke Nicki Minaj songs Songs written by Nicki Minaj Skepta songs Songs written by Skepta Songs written by 808Melo Republic Records singles