My pop royalty are our public school teachers.
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"Pop royalty" why do you think he was pop, lil peep was the furthest thing from it.
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I absolutely love lil peep I did not know who he was until his passing , which was on the news on a night that I could not sleep. I had to look up instantly who he was and I will not lie I did not know who he was until he passed and I have listen to him ever since every day day in day out have pictures autographs everything else and every interview of him he literally intrigues me he had a personality very similar to mine and which it’s nice to know there’s people out there who are just like me and struggle with issues I sing his songs out loud and I literally get me going I will always listen to his music and look forward to more more being released my condolences to his mother but she did do something right she raised him to be a kind loving man from all the interviews that I’ve seen he was funny and polite towards everyone .But sadly this day in age everyone does not reciprocate the same way we all get judged by the way we look. Rest In Peace peep you will always have a place in my heart ❤️ .
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Absoloutly beautiful, you explained Gus's past and present very well. Thank you for doing this NYTimes, this made me very happy. I've been a fan of Gus for 2 years now and I miss him very much. I'm very excited for COWYS PT.2 ! ♥
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love it, much love to peep ,lisa, smokeasac, mac, and to everyone who helped in the process of making the new album
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Truely beautiful. I was a fan from day 1 and seeing this bright peace to my heart. I’m still broken he’s gone but energy doesn’t die as gus once said, so his name will live
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I finally had a chance to listen to much of his catalog. He was a singular talent whose early, simple tracks were clearly experimental twists along the path of developing his personal sound: uniformly well produced, sampled, heavily reverbed, EQ'd and compressed. Nothing new in technical terms but new as a fresh, compelling and unique contemporary expressionist along the lines of a Curt Cobain retuned for a bedroom GarageBand studio. Peep's singing voice is painfully haunting and mesmerizing.
What does not differ from Cobain's expression is the deep existential suffering and suicidal melancholy that weaves through Lil Peep's work. While Peep wrestles with the variety of interpersonal torment standard for a young man his age and culture, it is disturbing to note the frequency and intensity of his references to resolve his pain through self-destruction and suicide.
It is important an article of this kind clearly delineate the difference between Peep's tragic personal journey and its relationship to his art, not that such art must necessitate a suicidal burnout in order to be valid while his cohorts gaze on in wait for the inevitable end, then scramble to monetize the leftovers.
Perhaps, in the light of Peep's darkness, questions should be raised in regard to other choices he could have made and most important, choices his cohorts could have made to guide him.
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Your headline for this article is a little mind-boggling. Taken literally, it means: "Lil Peep's new music may change the fact that he died before becoming pop royalty," which sounds impossible, unless there's some crazy backstory of which I'm ignorant. Suggested rewrite: "New Music May Transform Lil Peep into Posthumous Pop Royalty."
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@Brian Quass. I take it mean some people felt he was on his way to becoming pop royalty but posthumous evaluation of his work proves that he already was pop royalty not widely discovered.
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Ummm. 'Accidental overdose'? Hard drug use carries with it too many threatening risks to mention, so for me this term is a little difficult to fathom.
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@Marc B They were when they said “accidental overdose”. He didn’t purposely lace his drugs with Fentanyl to overdose. Yes, he may have had a drug problem and was somewhat addicted, but he definitely didn’t try to end his life while he was on tour.
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❤️ u peep. Thank you to the nyt for recognizing this legend. I cry whenever I hear him now. You have to be soulless to not feel something when you hear him, even if the music is not exactly your cup of tea. Such a raw talent taken way too soon. By all accounts one of the coolest, sweetest people you’d ever want to meet too.
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Whether lil peep or post Malone I’m curious why there’s so much more written about these white guys and usually no mention of race as a dynamic in play
A tragic tale that happens quite a lot, young musician gets too into hard drugs, overdoses, or gets shot dead, and gets lionized. Often they are quite talented, lately they tend to have odd tattoos all over their face.
I don't know if Lil Peep's music could have had any staying power, but I doubt he produced enough to have any now. I'd have thought Amy Winehouse would have, but you don't hear her songs much anymore. I do hope Post Malone's stuff doesn't have longevity, because it's regurgitated, soulless crud.
The subgenre Lil Peep was involved with may turn into something great. It doesn't strike me as great now, and I can't see it being played in malls and elevators in thirty years, or possibly being played at all.
I didn’t know a thing about Lil Peep before reading this and am eons older than he ever was meant to be. I’m sorry for the drug habit and the pain he bore and that those who loved him may well have done more to save him. There’s all that to Monday morning quarterback about, but what mostly hits me is how extraordinarily beautiful Falling Down is.
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You buried the lead.
We are awash in a plague of drug overdose deaths. Art, music, creativity...these are the forces that sustain and inspire us.
So when covering the death of a young artist, why didn't the writer ask why?
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@Tom there is no way on earth I'd ever listen to this music; and when I read this article I thought about a couple things? What is The Times obsession with this guy? Then I thought, while I guess this is intersting, no one seems to be really ticked off by the idea this kid clearly had problems and it appears no one did much about it. Let me get this straight; you are this kids mom and you are beig interviewed by The Times and not once does it come up that the kid self mutilated and clearly was destructive in a self harming way, has a differnt last name, etc... this is some kind of mirror into the current culture of disposable people, but instead we read about an unclear misalignment with a XXXTentacion. And then I thought that old canard about how kids (and I was one once) think they are inventive...but destroying yourself with drugs is a time honored tradition. Bravo, you are not that origonal after all.
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@Nathan If you actually listen to his music it actually understand what he is talking about. He saying about what he went through his emotions instead of having ghost writers write songs for them that they designed for them and it’s not the real personalities little peeps music was his music and his personal dealings if you watch on YouTube as a person I was very sweet that’s why people suffer because people get judged just like you are judging now that is what society has come to and it’s sad to think that just because he has tattoos doesn’t self-mutilation
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@Nathan *original
This is just one of those things where there is pretty much a stark generational difference, I love his music and it perks me up on off-days but I really wouldn't trust anyone over 30 to connect with it. It was clear though that the raw star power he had would have propelled his career far beyond what it became
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@Woodwork Man I am over 30 I love his music this is really the only artist that I listen to . A couple others here in there which is a very few songs I love everyone of his songs so far I relate to it more than words could ever imagine . I remember the day it was breaking news I suffer from severe insomnia and I saw it on the news about what happened I literally looked on YouTube to see who he was and I have them mesmerized by him since . I will never stop listening to him , he changes the way that I look at Music and let’s me know if there’s other people out there who suffer with issues.
2
Peep's music is intriguing for sure, but the cult of personality is puzzling. Peep was, as is mentioned below, a heavy addict with some pretty dark themes. It seems as if his vibe, and the vibe of the rest of his various crews, is death. I find that aspect hard to gloss over regardless of the musical freshness.
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The new Clutch album is great!!
Did some guy actually mention peep in the same sentence with Dylan? Peep was gonna get hate like Dylan? Sell his music if folks want to buy it.
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I am certainly looking forward to listening to the complete catalogue.
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Thank you NYT. Lil peep was a raw gifted musicial talent. His voice and music resonates with me. Unfortunately, I had discovered him after his death and have been enjoying his music post humously. Thanks to his mother, Smokeasac and George Astasio for discoverying and producing more music from Gus. RIP.
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"...First Access co-founder Sarah Stennett became a key guiding force in his career, a quasi-parental figure. 'It’s a really, really crazy thing to say this but he restored my faith in a higher power,' Stennett said, adding that their relationship 'made me understand there is a purpose to what I’m doing. It’s not just music, it’s a much bigger responsibility.'”
Might there also have been a bigger responsibility to help a kid who was an overdose death waiting to happen. Everything about Lil Peep screamed opioid overdose. His music, his videos, his interviews. Anyone who didn't see his death coming a mile away either wasn't watching or didn't want to face it.
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@kramdenyards It's true there are many treatment options that the people around Lil Peep could have been pushing that could have saved his life. But they all at some point require the participation of the addict and as we all know that is the piece we cannot control. Maybe people were telling him he needed help or offering him help, we don't know.
Also just want to point out from another source that his death was suspected Xanax OD. Xanax is not an opiod it is a benzo, and Lil Peep had a song titled "benz truck." I only point this out because a lot of folks now carry Narcan to help reverse ODs but Narcan is for opiod OD, it will not help a benzo OD. That person needs emergency medical treatment right away and IV administration of a reversal agent for benzos called Flumazenil,
Maybe it's a privacy issue but it always bugs me when an article states "drug overdose' as cause of death, I feel like they should be very specific about the drug, as a reminder to young people of the dangers of specific drugs.
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@kramdenyards
As someone who is sober 5 years, so I speak from experience, until the person themselves wants to make a change..............
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@Katie He had 9 or more different drugs in his system at the time, including both opioids and benzos. Benz Truck had nothing to do with benzos, it was about the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
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i love his songs and was very saddened when he died ... i am happy that there is a part 2.
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