“I got a feeling that I’m not gonna be here for next year so let’s laugh a little before I’m gone.”

-the opening lines of  Lil Peep’s “The Way I See Things”

During his life, Lil Peep struggled with depression and suicidal tendencies. The conflict he faced in his life can be heard in each of his songs released throughout his short life. Lil Peep’s album Come Over When You’re Sober pt. 2 (COWYS2) was released on Nov. 9 this year, almost a year after his death.

Gustav “Gus” Elijah Åhr is deemed a ‘post-emo revival style’ rapper by his followers. Known by his stage name “Lil Peep”, some of his most popular songs including “Awful Things”, “Benz Truck”, “Star Shopping”, and “Crybaby” have diverse beats and styles of rapping.

The common themes of many of Peep’s songs include dark, sad undertones disguised by an upbeat melody. He often raps about being heartbroken, drugged out, and suicidal.

COWYS2 contains similar messages to his other albums released before his death on SoundCloud and Spotify. In my opinion, the standout songs of the album include “Broken Smile (My All)”, “Runaway”, “Cry Alone”, “Hate Me”, and “Life is Beautiful”.

The album contains a variety of more ‘hype’ songs with a mix of his classic slower, sad songs like “Broken Smile (My All)”. The song begins with a melodic tune and transitions to a beat-drop that happens midway through the song. It’s the kind of sad song that gets listeners in their feelings.

My second favorite song of the album is “Life is Beautiful”. The original song was released as a part of Peep’s 2015 album Feelz but has been revamped with a stronger and more melodic beat. Along with the song, a new lyric music video starring Peep was released, which brought on a wave of nostalgia, as the video was old, unreleased footage of him from a few years back. The best part of this song is the way Peep has crafted the lyrics describing different tragic scenarios and keeps repeating “Isn’t life beautiful? I think that life is beautiful.”

Overall, listening to the album made me feel sad because I knew this was the last of Lil Peep’s new music that will be released. From his short career, it’s obvious that Peep had a lot of potential, and his legacy will be remembered for years to come.

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Lil Peep passed away in Tucson, AZ on Nov. 15, 2017, from an accidental overdose on Xanax laced with Fentanyl. He was 21 years old at the time of his death, and the event was heartbreaking to his millions of fans. (photo courtesy of Lil Peep's music video)