A man convicted for his involvement in the 2020 killing of Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke has publicly apologized to the musician’s mother.
Blockstar, who was 17 during the fatal Hollywood Hills home invasion, addressed his involvement in an XVTV interview published Tuesday, Oct. 13.
“I’ll say an apology I never got to give was to Pop Smoke’s mom,” Blockstar said.
“I’ll say I never really got to apologize to her,” he continued. “And you know, an apology not gonna change nothing.”
Blockstar acknowledged that the rapper’s mother might reject his apology, maintaining that the deadly encounter was never intended to become personal.
“I always say the situation was never supposed to go like that. He’s not my enemy,” he said.
“I don’t really know that man from a can of paint,” Blockstar added.
Blockstar, Pop Smoke’s Convicted Murder, Wishes To Apologize To Late Rapper’s Mother
“What happened, what occurred was not personal,” he continued. “It was just on some young ni**as getting money.”
Blockstar attributed the killing to a robbery that escalated into violence.
“Things happen, things go bad. It’s not an excuse but things go bad,” he said.
Pop Smoke, whose legal name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, died Feb. 19, 2020, during a robbery at his rented Los Angeles residence. He was 20.
Blockstar pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and home invasion burglary. He received a four-year, two-month juvenile detention sentence.
Authorities released him in 2023 after crediting time served.
Corey Walker, 19 during the killing, received a 29-year prison sentence in 2025.
Keandre Rodgers, then 18, initially faced murder charges. NME subsequently reported that his case was undergoing reassessment.
Deijae Jester, 15 during the shooting, admitted firing three shots into Pop Smoke’s back, according to investigators.
Jester later received a four-year county jail sentence for smuggling fentanyl into a juvenile detention facility.
Blockstar’s remarks mark a rare public acknowledgment of the killing from someone convicted in the case.
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