Lil Peep, an emerging singer, rapper and YouTube star whose debut full-length album dropped in recent months, has died according to multiple reports.
The Long Beach, New York-raised emo/hip-hop artist (real name Gustav Åhr) was 21 years old. Reasons for his passing have not been revealed, though British broadsheet The Guardiancites a suspected his death is due to an overdose. Peep’s manager Chase Ortega broke the news.
“I’ve been expecting this call for a year. Mother f**k,” Ortega tweeted.
Lil Peep had a promising career in front of him. Peep’s power had been on the rise since 2015 via a series of Soundcloud tracks, EPs and mixtapes, and he enjoyed full traction through his YouTube channel where his videos to “Awful Things,” “Benz Truck,” “The Brightside” and others clocked up multiple millions of views. As the buzz built, Peep signed with agent Cara Lewis and enthusiastic features followed in Fader, Noisey and Pitchfork, which declared him as “the future of emo”. In an extensive three-part profile, Medium wrote, “it’s obvious Peep is going to blow up.”
All the while, the conversation rumbled on about whether he was a rapper or a singer. Was he hip-hop or emo? Peep showcased all those skills on his debut album, Come Over When You’re Sober, which dropped on Sept. 1.The Peep army was a growing one, as fans tuned in en masse for his refreshing candor about his battles with depression, heartbreak, drug use and his sexuality.
Several artist took to Twitter to express their condolences over Lil Peep’s death.
in the short time that i knew you, you were a great friend to me and a great person. your music changed the world and it'll never be the same. i love you bud. forever pic.twitter.com/tpbxpkf4f4
— Posty (@PostMalone) November 16, 2017
Peep was the nicest person. hanging out with him, talking to him about music, the song ideas we were going to do together and touring was so amazing. Everyone will miss you man @Lilpeep
— marshmello (@marshmellomusic) November 16, 2017