Burgeoning rap star and SoundCloud sensation Lil Peep, who captivated fans with his emotionally-driven music, died on Wednesday (November 15) night in Tucson. He was 21.
The young artist was reportedly taken to the hospital after a suspected overdose, according to music manager Adam Grandmaison. This news comes just hours after Peep took to Instagram before a scheduled show in El Paso and posted a video in which he stated he was “lit” after taking “six Xanax.” He also posted a photo captioned, “When I die You’ll love me.”
A Tucson Police Department spokesman said that officers found evidence suggesting that the rapper died of an overdose of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax.
Born Gustav Åhr on Nov. 1, 1996, Peep was raised in Long Beach, Long Island. The son of a college professor father and an elementary schoolteacher mother, he was given his famous name by his mother. “Since I was a small baby, my mother has called me Peep,” he told GQ a few months back. “It’s just what she calls me. Pretty much everyone in my life called me that.”
After leaving high school, Peep moved to Los Angeles and began working on music. “I moved out here straight out of high school thinking I was going to pay rent with this SoundCloud rap career,” he told Pitchfork earlier this year. He eventually moved back to Long Island and got his diploma, but continued the music. It was from there that his fan base grew.
Posting first on YouTube and eventually accumulating millions of plays on SoundCloud, Peep saw his stock (and rabid fanbase) rise. His first set of mixtapes arrived in 2015. From there, the rapper went on to win ears with his transparent ballads that captured the essence of heart-on-sleeve pain. He was hailed by Pitchfork back in January as the “future of emo.” In August, Peep abruptly released his debut album, Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1. He recently celebrated his 21st birthday on November 1st.
Following the news of Peep’s passing, musicians and celebrities have poured tributes to the singer on Twitter. Among the stream of condolences is a one poignant message from A$AP Nast.