Overdosing on Overdoses: Lil Peep's Death Reflects a Cultural Crisis
NASHVILLE, TENN. - It’s Thursday morning, and contrary to my usual frantic routine, I’m taking a moment to sit and think.. and to mourn the death of LiL PeeP.
The 21-year-old artist was confirmed dead in the late-night hours of November 15 – the result of a Xanax overdose, according to witness sources. The death is tragic and shocking but not altogether unbelievable or unexpected. In an interview with Billboard, PeeP’s manager Chase Ortega said he’d been “expecting this call for a year.”
It’s chilling to look back on PeeP’s social media activity in the days leading up to his death. There are obvious signs of distress; it really seems like he was spiraling. November 14 – PeeP posted a short video with a harrowing caption:
After this video, he posted another one:
November 15 – LiL PeeP showed us hope…
....but then there was this:
And finally, this chilling post:
Looking back, it’s obvious that something was wrong. So were people concerned at the time? Did anyone reach out to PeeP? Is it possible his death could’ve been prevented? It’s easy to pose these questions now, after the fact, because LiL PeeP’s confirmed death has obviously been linked to the drug use he so often publicized on social media. At the time these posts appeared however, they could’ve been lost among the many drugged out, depressed images of 2017 hip-hop culture.
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LiL PeeP used his celebrity to share his struggles with depression. It was no secret that he continuously struggled with depression, substance abuse and suicidal tendencies. Fans have consistently praised his transparency. The honesty and relatability of PeeP’s music was an entry point for fans, and he was just as loyal to his fans as they were to him. It seems appropriate that his last Instagram post was dedicated to fans:
This is the kind of fan base that won't let his legacy fade.
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PeeP leaves a legacy of young budding artistry, of the possibilities of the internet, and of the common thread of millennial struggles. Those of us who watched LiL PeeP rise from the depths of SoundCloud to the runways of luxury fashion brands will remember him as a champion of internet culture.
PeeP’s career began on SoundCloud, and as the SoundCloud trend goes, his music is laden with references to drug abuse and addiction. But this never discredited PeeP’s music or what was a rapidly evolving career. Most of us probably weren’t troubled by artist’s evident drug use – it’s what we’ve come to expect from the SoundCloud era. However, this kind of complacency is problematic.
Drug abuse is becoming increasingly normalized. It’s nearly impossible to think of a rapper whose image isn’t associated with drugs. Weed, pills, syrup, psychedelics… it’s all there, in the public eye. Forget the legal ramifications of drug use, production, and promotion – the internet is a lawless land when it comes to this.
Maybe drug use is conversation-starter or an entryway to a subculture, but this kind of rampant drug promotion is starting to look less like a trend and more like a crisis.
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There’s a history of deaths by drugs in the hip-hop scene. LiL PeeP joins Pimp C, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, DJ Screw, A$AP Yams, and more on the record of rappers who have died by overdose. These names may not have been mourned by the general public, but big stars like Michael Jackson and Prince certainly directed the country’s eyes toward the drug issue after their highly publicized, drug-induced deaths.
Drug abuse extends far beyond the realm of celebrity. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 64,000 people died from drug overdoses last year. The statistics have nearly doubled in the past ten years. If LiL PeeP’s overdose is confirmed to be attributed to Xanax, he will join an increasing number of people who have died from Benzodiazepine overdoses. The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s 2015 data shows that the Benzo death toll was more than 8,000.
There’s no doubt that this country’s drug problem is only getting worse, and it’s not too soon to start evaluating why.
Think of the artists who launched careers on SoundCloud. Some of the biggest names in hip-hop right now were posting free tracks online only a few years ago. Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Pump, Ski Mask the Slump God, Trippie Redd, Smokepurpp, and Tay-K are just a few of the names that SoundCloud helped launch to fame. Every single one of these artists references or promotes drug in some way. (Examples below:)
But don’t worry – I'm not blaming SoundCloud or these individual rappers for this culture’s drug infatuation. Of course popular artists may influence their fans to do or try certain drugs or activities, but they are not the ultimate source. I think the internet and drugs go hand-in-hand in terms of millennials’ infatuation with branding. So much of what these artists do is about their images. They adorn themselves in designer details, surround themselves with equally notable individuals, and present themselves as icons and as figureheads of culture.
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It’s all about the brand. How many of these artists’ real names do we know? How often do we attempt to look past the chains and tattoos to see the person beneath them? Do these rappers even want us to?
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In a culture where we take information from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as the absolute truth, it’s easier to just accept the brands that are marketed to us. But it is important to separate an artist from his or her brand.
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Maybe we ignored LiL PeeP’s social media spiral because it’s what we expected from him, an aficionado of emo-rap. Maybe it got filtered through social media users’ apparent fascination with romanticizing depression. But I mean, how can we take depression seriously when it’s constantly being misrepresented, sexualized, and joked about?
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There’s an obvious difference between these misrepresentations of mental illness and LiL PeeP’s public ongoing struggle with it. It’s been argued that he was also a problematic force within the romanticization of mental illness, but it’s obvious to me that PeeP’s struggle was sincere and deeply personal. I think his social media activity prior to the overdose was a cry for help, but devastatingly, it was a cry that we were too late to answer.
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LiL PeeP will remain a cultural icon, and his legacy will be carried on by his musical brothers. His death is already opening discussions about drug abuse and mental health. Many fans, friends, and colleagues have shared their thoughts about the significance of LiL PeeP’s tragic death:
It’s time – past time – for this generation to stop glorifying drug use. It’s time for us, the millennials, to start taking care of ourselves and each other. We have so much power and so much potential, and it’s crucial that we start respecting ourselves as such. It’s 2017, and opportunities are seemingly endless. We can’t afford to keep losing people to drugs, and we can’t afford to go any further without stopping to examine the issues we must overcome.
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Imagine, you’re holding your smart phone in one hand and a dose of Xanax in the other. In the one hand, you have a world of future possibilities. In the other, you may or may not have a future at all. Why not dedicate both hands to holding the future? Focus your energy on what you are going to make happen, not what a manufactured substance may do to you. As a generation and as a cultural force, we have to get better. LiL PeeP was a dreamer boy, and now it’s up to us to be dreamers too.
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Listen to Beamer Boy here:
IMAGES COURTESY OF. . .
INSTAGRAM (@lilpeep, @trippieredd, @smokepurpp)
TWITTER (@nojumper, @lilbthebasedgod, @shazam, @visecs).