A figurehead of the American emo-rap movement, rapper Lil Peep had a career as short as it was intense. Let's look back at the life of a genius who wasn't as misunderstood as he made out.
Lil Peep's career
It was 1996, in the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. On November 1, Lisa Womack gave birth to a baby boy. Gustav Elijah Åhr, a.k.a. Lil Peep, was born.
Considered by his mother to be a troubled teenager, especially since his parents' divorce when he was 14, Lil Peep sought answers to the many questions he had about life, and it was through music, which gradually became much more than a passion, but a way of life in his eyes, that he expressed his disruptive and innovative vision, a symbol of a generation that was both golden and disenchanted.
Promising beginnings
Lil Peep grew up in Long Beach and attended the local high school until he decided to leave at 17 to pursue his music career full-time. He then posted his first tracks on Youtube and Soundcloud. Determined to change his life and have his talent recognized, he then moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the Shemaposse collective, which brings together other promising rappers in search of notoriety.
In 2015, Lil Peep recorded his first mixtapes in his bedroom, which he called Lil Peep Part One and Live Forever. Some of his songs like Star Shopping or The Way I See Things then met with great success, particularly on the Soundcloud platform, known for unearthing tomorrow's talents and highly appreciated by listeners looking for freshness and originality.
Soaring popularity
On June 10, 2016, Lil Peep released Crybaby and Hellboy, and these two tracks marked the beginning of his meteoric career, but initially only among connoisseurs and fans of the genre. He was then called "the Kurt Cobain of the rap scene"...
The following year, it was with the music videos Awful Things and Benz Truck, posted on Youtube, that he became known to the general public.
A booming movement, emo-rap
Lil Peep appears as the spokesman for a booming movement in the United States, that of emo-rap, emo for emotional, a return to meaningful rap, which tells the story of the lives and problems of the younger generation.
With a style all his own, Lil Peep is recognizable among all. Tattooed all over his body, he notably has an anarchist A on his right cheek and a Crybaby on his forehead. He likes to appear in his music videos aboard large Jeeps, adorned with gold jewelry. He also does not hesitate to dye his hair in whatever colors he feels like, according to his whims. The artist disorients as much as he fascinates.
When and how did Lil Peep die?
The sad news was announced on the morning of November 15, 2017. A true wave of sadness and hatred that swept over the public, Lil Peep's death touched millions of people, who paid tribute to him across dozens and dozens of countries, opening the way for numerous debates on social networks, concerning the lives of these artists sometimes overwhelmed by their success and who seek refuge in drug use, which is often fatal.
The day before the official announcement of his death, he was found unconscious in his tour bus, the loved ones present with him during this tour then thought he was simply in a very deep sleep, due to his regular drug use. Indeed, the rapper died of a Xanax overdose. Toxicology reports that followed attributed his death to an overdose of fentanyl and alprazolam (another name for Xanax).
Lil Peep dies, but his star continues to shine
After his death, all his social media accounts were managed by the Lil Peep Estate, a group of his relatives and family members. A few months later, the artist Marshmello released the track Spotlight, a song recorded in collaboration with Lil Peep shortly before his death. In January 2018, his mother spoke on social media to announce that there were dozens of songs Lil Peep had already recorded but which had not yet been published.
Other collaborations and a new album
In May 2018, the track 4 Gold Chains was released, featuring Clams Casino.
However, the most touching tribute remains undeniably that of the song Falling Down, released on September 19, 2018, in collaboration with the artist XXXTentacion, who also died a few months before Lil Peep's death following an assassination by a rival gang. The song went around the world, forever linking the tragic destinies of the two rappers while uniting the communities of the two artists around a common culture and underlying movement. In November 2018, on Lil Peep's birthday, the track Runaway was released, followed a little later by Life Is Beautiful. Finally, a nice surprise was offered to fans with the announcement of the release of Lil Peep's second album. Titled Come Over When You're Sober, Pt.2, the album includes all the tracks recorded before the artist's death. To conclude, a documentary produced by Netflix will be released, tracing the young man's life and career, further cementing him as an undeniable symbol of subculture.
What to remember about the Lil Peep phenomenon?
In conclusion, Lil Peep left his mark on his generation through his talent as a visionary, openly expressing his feelings and his worldview in a remarkable and meaningful way. His message, through his songs, continues to be spread to the world, and neither he nor his art will be forgotten anytime soon.
