Photo Credit: Getty Images / Rick Kern / Stringer

Recently Chuck D revealed the whole stunt was a hoax — one that was meant to teach a lesson.

“Going into 2020, this is the second decade where Hip Hop has skidded away to the point where the good look is never, ever considered and the bad look keeps getting elevated to the point where it’s just disrespectful. The final straw for me was the young man Pop Smoke being murdered, and all of a sudden he becomes a name.”

“It was reminiscent of the year before with Nipsy Hussle, somebody who I played and supported on our RAPstation networks. A few people knew his name but then he gets murdered and of all a sudden it’s this ground swell.”

Taking inspiration from Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds radio broadcast, Chuck D decided to illuminate the manipulation of the media and illustrate that rappers receive more fame from creating a “bad look.”

Well done Chuck… Well done…