It’s an unfortunate but somewhat common story. A young musician finds success despite serious traumatic issues and when they are finally reaping the deserved rewards of their hard work, pass away tragically. Such was the case of Gustav Elijah Åhr aka Lil Peep. The emo rapper found success at a young age through the mixtapes he produced in his bedroom in Long Island, New York. His albums Come Over When You’re Sober Pts 1 and 2 and the EP Goth Angel Sinner cemented his fanbase and scored the once SoundCloud rapper a hugely devoted following. Peep passed away from a drug overdose just days after his 21st birthday, has released a number of posthumous content and most recently a documentary about his life entitled EVERYBODY’S EVERYTHING, which also has a companion soundtrack of the same name. The record is a mix of previously released and unreleased music and is a good place to start if you are just discovering Peep’s unique take on the genre.

LIl Peep was hailed by many as the “future of emo”. He blended multiple disparate genres of music into one of his own creation. A cross between hip hop, trap and emo, Peep’s influences ranged from Kurt Cobain to Frank Ocean to bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and My Chemical Romance. As odd as it may seem, you can actually hear all these influences distinctly in each of the tracks on this collection. Kicking off with “Liar” and it’s chorus drenched guitar and the wooziest of beats. Peep wasn’t know much for his inflection or flow. Almost mush mouthed, he floats casually over the sparse tracks. Nothing in Peeps oeuvre really rockets up much past 80 beats per minute but that adds to the hallucinogenic quality of the songs. “RACHETS” features a nice take from Lil Tracy whose energy definitely adds a bit of a bump to the track. There are some definite standouts that pop up through the haze of the compilation. “Fangirl” jumps out of the speakers with an absolutely ear worm of a vocal melody and some really interesting production that is more than just trap hats and rollicking bass line. “Text Me” explores the more emo side of Peep’s work. Peep and Era detail the pleas of a begrudged ex over a reedy guitar part that is actually quite heartbreaking.

The whole album is very lovingly put together. A nice way to honour Peep, his work and his fans and a great way to enter the mind of this deeply missed artist. Peep was so prolific that we supposedly have a ton of material that is being finished and will be released at some point in the future and it’s actually quite exciting to see what he was up to before he passed away. With EVERYBODY’S EVERYTHING though we get a comprehensive reminder of why he made the impact that he made on his generation and a great all in one way to keep that legacy alive.

review by Adam Fink