Lil Peep, a rising musician who blended hip-hop with emo rock, died on Wednesday night in Tucson, Arizona, of a suspected overdose. He was 21.
Lil Peep, whose real name was Gustav Ahr, was an internet sensation who was initially discovered via YouTube and SoundCloud, where he released his first mixtapes and EPs in 2015. The Long Island native’s debut album, Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1, dropped in August. Though Peep’s musical eccentricities could be polarizing, media outlets such as Pitchfork, Noisey, and The Ringer declared the heavily tattooed rapper as the “future of emo” this year.
Lil Peep’s music and persona resonated strongly with his fans. He was open about his fluid sexuality, as well as his experience with depression and suicidal thoughts—not only through his music and social media accounts but also in interviews with the press. “I suffer from depression and some days I wake up and I’m like, ‘Fuck, I wish I didn’t wake up,’” he told Pitchfork in January. Lil Peep posted a video to his Instagram on Wednesday night in which he claims to have taken Xanax and says, “I’m good. I’m not sick.”
Tributes to the rapper poured in over Twitter from across the music industry.
Sarah Stennett, the CEO of First Access Entertainment, which partnered with Lil Peep last year, said in a statement that she had “spoken to his mother and she asked me to convey that she is very, very proud of him and everything he was able to achieve in his short life.”
