Adam22 Defends His Interview With Man Involved In Pop Smoke’s Murder

Adam22 has responded to backlash regarding him interviewing one of the men involved in the 2020 murder of rap star Pop Smoke.

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Following an inteview with Blockstar, one of the four men charged with Pop Smoke’s death, the No Jumper founder addressed the criticism, defending the conversation as “historical record.” In a series of clips posted on social media, Adam22 insisted that the interview with Blockstar wasn’t done out of a lack of regard for Pop Smoke, but was meant to document and contextualize a cultural tragedy.

“I didn’t do that interview because I don’t care,” the New Hampshire native expressed. “That’s what a lot of people seem to think. ‘Adam just doesn’t give a f**k.’ That’s not the case at all. I did that interview because I thought it was an important historical record of somebody involved in one of the most tragic, insane stories in rap history.”

He continued, pointing to his personal dealings with the late Brooklyn rapper prior to his death and had no ill intentions toward the rapper, nor his friends and family. “I knew Pop Smoke, I was texting him for probably a year. We spoke on camera for a couple minutes for Rolling Loud in 2019, like, a few months before he passed. I have a huge amount of respect for him. I’m not ignorant to what a gigantic impact he had on New York City,” he said.

Another aspect of his interview he keyed in on was the opportunity it gave to bring viewers into the mind of a violent criminal and was not a glamorization of the incident. The content creator also argued that he’s not the first to interview an admitted or alleged murderer or criminal, pointing to DJ Vlad and others.

“A lot of people seem to think I’m the first person who’s ever interviewed a killer, which is completely not true. […] Pop Smoke, famous rapper. Beloved. Who did Gangster Williams [whom he interviewed] kill? 40 drug dealers slash gang members that you and I don’t know. So it’s kind of hard to, like, work up that empathy. […] I remember when Vlad took a lot of heat because he interviewed Keefe D… I thought it was pretty impressive that Vlad stood on his principles and did that interview. It was an important story.”

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Adam22 also believes that his conversation with Blockstar was necessary in setting the record straight regarding Pop Smoke’s death and that another outlet would’ve spoke with Blockstar if he had declined to. Blockstar’s appearance on No Jumper came after his release from a juvenile detention facility this past week.

Blockstar, who was 15 years old at the time of Pop Smoke’s murder, received a four-year sentence as part of a plea deal he struck with prosecutors in 2023. According to Blockstar, he’s unapologetic about Pop Smoke’s death , but did express remorse to the rapper’s family.

“I’m not sorry about nothing,” Blockstar told Adam22 during the conversation. “It should’ve never happened, but I ain’t sorry. If I could go back, I’d go back. But I ain’t sorry. People die every day. [Pop Smoke] was rapping about it. All types of stuff. So, I ain’t sorry about it.

“I send my condolences to the family. I wish it never happened. But I don’t regret nothing. Growing up, my people, my family told me, ‘You ain’t sorry for nothing. Whatever you did, you did it for a reason and stand on it.’”

See Blockstar’s interview with Adam22 below.

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