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Rapper Lil Peep Has Died of a Suspected Overdose at 21

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Emerging rapper/singer and YouTube star has died at 21 of a suspected overdose after posting a video to Instagram saying he had just taken a number of xanax pills.

A native of Long Island, Lil Peep came out as bisexual in August and had just released “Come Over When You're Sober (Part One)”, his debut album.

The Guardian reports:

Gustav Åhr, who grew up in Long Beach, New York, was reportedly taken to hospital following an overdose, according to music manager Adam Grandmaison. In a video Åhr posted online hours before his death, he said he had taken prescription drugs and other substances, saying: “I'm good, I'm not sick”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbfmbDeljp6/

 

The NY Daily News reports:

He got his start recording his own songs on a $200 microphone plugged into his laptop and sang about drugs, suicide, and failed relationships.

Peep, who was branded the “future of emo” in a Pitchfork feature in January, grew a sizable social media following, where he frequently posted about his drug use.

He also had “Get Cake Die Young” tattooed along his hairline, and his Instagram bio read, “musician/supermodel/toyboy //ugly, cute and dying.”

Pitchfork's Steven Horowitz profiled Peep in January:

Image is paramount to Peep, born Gustav Åhr. When he's not pairing Katy Perry T-shirts and hockey jerseys with fluorescent magenta jeans, he's performing shirtless, exposing a stomach tattoo bearing the word “LOVE” with a sad face imprinted in the “O.” He flaunts his relationship with Layla, recently showing up in a tweeted photo with his face planted in her bare ass. (The caption: “fine dining.”) He now has more followers on Instagram (112,000) than on SoundCloud (82,000), where he posted his first song just a year ago.

“It's like professional wrestling—everyone has to be a character,” says Peep. “If you're not a fun enough character, then no one's gonna f**k with you because you don't have enough sh*t that's different.”

Peep is a big personality, but he's not a clown; he's not just another RiFF RAFF. He's the fresh-faced avatar of post-emo angst that's not quite rap or rock. Instead, it falls into a grey area full of with spidery guitars, 808 drums, and wall-of-sound production. It's been described as the “new emo” and “emo trap,” raw and stinging and a direct confluence of his influences—Gucci Mane, Crystal Castles, Panic! at the Disco.

 

Producer-artist Diplo said he was inspired by Lil Peep on Twitter.

DJ/Producer Marshmello posted a heartfelt tribute:

Others expressed their sadness over Lil Peep's sudden passing:

https://twitter.com/tydollasign/status/931054288670924800

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