The death of the rising star shocked fans when his manager found Lil Peep unresponsive in his tour bus. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 11 p.m., Nov. 15. The cause of death is thought to be a possible drug overdose, most likely from Xanax, according to CNN sources.
Born Gustav Åhr, he came up from Long Island as a SoundCloud artist where he infamously blended both emo and hip-hop. He had a very distinct and unique vocal style where he often glorified his drug use through lyrics. Peep recently released his debut commercial album “Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1” after collecting millions of views off his hit SoundCloud songs like “White Wine,” “Beamer Boy” and “Hellboy.” There will never be a part two to his recent album.
The whole incident created topic throughout the community on addiction and other mental illnesses that we should be more aware of within musicians. Lil Peep made it seem obvious through his music he was depressed and was battling something even stronger than an average drug addiction. He tweeted back in February “I am a depressed drug addict and I’m nearing my breaking point. Everything I love is disappearing.”
Older Brother, Karl Åhr, said there was more to the rapper than his drug use and the visual he gave his audiences.
“It was an accident, it really was an accident, He was super happy with where he was in life.”
According to Karl from People.com, “It makes me laugh to think about the days we watched WWE together but [Peep] mentioned how being a hip-hop artist is like being a pro-wrestling character. You have to be an actor,” said Karl.
Peep’s passing has inspired other artists to put down drugs and try to keep sober in honor of him. Lil Uzi Vert tweeted on his condolences to Peep about how he is choosing to never take another Xanax and how he doesn’t put any blame on Peep for going the way he did.
This Xanax epidemic has been a major concern in the Hip-hop community and hopefully this tragedy of Lil Peep’s death can set a trend and help other artist seek a direction away from drugs. We can only hope this to be a reminder to what can happen from drugs and as college students, we have to be aware and help steer our generation away from this. Rest in peace Lil Peep, you will be missed dearly. Your music will still live on with us.
