Welcome to the Party (Pop Smoke song)

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Skepta in July 2019.png
"Welcome to the Party" was promoted by two remixes, one featuring Nicki Minaj (left) and the other featuring Skepta.

Pop Smoke first revealed the official remix of "Welcome to the Party" featuring American rapper Nicki Minaj, at a listening party in July 2019. [28] [29] [30] It was later released on August 16, 2019. [31] [32] [33] A second remix, featuring British rapper Skepta, was released on August 21, 2019. [34] Both remixes were later included on the reissue deluxe release of Meet the Woo. [35]

Commercial performance

The remix featuring Minaj peaked at number five on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. [36] The remix featuring Minaj also peaked at number 48 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. [37] 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. [38] [39] The song was later certified platinum by the RIAA for sales and streams of over 1,000,000 units in the US. [40]

Promotion

A music video for "Welcome to the Party" was released on May 28, 2019. [27] [41] The visual was directed, produced, and edited by GoddyGoddy. [41] 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. [22] 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. [42] 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 [Pop Smoke] is being magically teleported around Brooklyn before our very eyes". He said it "all suits the intensity". [42]

In October 2019, Pop Smoke performed "Welcome to the Party" live on MTV's Total Request Live offshoot program Fresh Out Friday. [43] A month later, he performed the song for VevoDSCVR, a platform showcasing emerging young artists. [44] In February of the next year, shortly after his death, the Yard Club in Paris, France, debuted an on-stage hologram of Pop Smoke that virtually performed "Welcome to the Party". [45]

Charts

"Welcome to the Party"
Welcome to the Party - Pop Smoke.jpg
Single by Pop Smoke
from the album Meet the Woo
ReleasedApril 23, 2019 (2019-04-23)
Genre Drill
Length3:34
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) 808Melo
Pop Smoke singles chronology
"Welcome to the Party"
(2019)		"MPR"
(2019)
Nicki Minaj singles chronology
"Hot Girl Summer"
(2019)		"Welcome to the Party (Remix)"
(2019)		"Tusa"
(2019)
Chart (2019–2020)Peak
position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles ( Billboard ) [36] 5
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [37] 48
US Rolling Stone Top 100 [46] 100

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Portugal (AFP) [47] Gold5,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [48] Silver200,000‡
United States (RIAA) [40] Platinum1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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References

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