Aim For The Moon
by Pop Smoke (featuring Quavo)

Album: Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon (2020)
Charted: 34
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Shooting for the stars and aiming for the moon is a popular aspirational saying encouraging positivity and thinking big. The adage may have originated from self-help author W Clement Stone, who wrote, "Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star."

    Here, Pop Smoke is flexing about achieving his ambitions ("I'm on Venus"). He brags about the fruits of his success: a luxurious lifestyle, plenty of women, and partying in exotic locations.
  • Quavo joins Pop Smoke, contributing a boastful verse about his wealth. The Migos rapper also features on two other Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon tracks: "Snitchin" alongside Future, and "West Coast S--t" alongside Tyga.
  • Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon was released posthumously following Pop Smoke's murder on February 19, 2020. The album debuted at the top of the US Billboard 200, making Pop Smoke the first act in hip-hop history to have a posthumous debut album enter at #1. XXXTentacion, Tupac Shakur, and The Notorious B.I.G., also had chart-topping albums after their untimely deaths, but they'd all previously released other long players.
  • Oliver Cannon directed the song's music video, which pays tribute to The Notorious B.I.G's "Sky's The Limit" clip. It features a childhood version of Pop played by the late rapper's friend, teenage rapper Bouba Savage. We see him living out his lavish lifestyle dining on hamburgers served on a silver platter by a butler and riding with the kid playing Quavo in a Rolls Royce with a "Woo" New York vanity plate.
  • Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon climbed to #1 on the UK albums chart 12 weeks after making its debut at #2. Pop Smoke became the first ever solo artist to land a posthumous debut chart-topping album; the only other act to achieve the feat was the British rock band Viola Beach. Their self-titled debut album was released six months after the entire group died in a car crash.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Ramones

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.