I have to be honest with ya’ll, I really did not know if I was actually going to write about this record. It has always felt weird to me writing or talking about any post-humous album; I mean the when the artist was not alive to have any input about the final cuts of every song or the order in which they are placed in the album, it does not seem fair to me to sit here and say that I did not like something about it if that is the case. But knowing Peep, this music probably would have come out in some way or another if he was still with us today, whether apart of mixtapes or an album; also, Lil Peep is still a very relevant name in the hip hop community today which makes this record relevant to the industry as well, so I would be doing myself and other hip hop lovers a disservice by ignoring this one. I am sort of embarrassed to admit this considering how big of a music geek I am, I but I really only started listening to Lil Peep near the end of his life, and I did not really get into his music as I should have until after he was already gone. This is a total shame on my part because I would have loved to enjoy the music with his passionate fans when it was actually coming out. I do not know why I never really gave him a chance before I did; I mean I have known who he is for years and I knew how popular he was, but for some reason, I just never actually checked him out. I am glad that I finally got into Lil Peep, though, because that dude was in a different lane from everyone else making hip hop sonically and lyrically. Everybody’s Everything does an excellent job at showcasing all of his talents; it is a bit rough and sort of seems like a hodgepodge that was randomly thrown together, but Peep’s talent shines through his in a way that touches the soul. I think it is cool that they did not really include any features from random artists that he has not worked with in the past; I honestly would not be surprised if every feature on this record was actually recorded while Peep was still alive(besides that Rich the Kid one), because they are all so genuine and it feels that way. One thing I really dislike is when post-humous albums have random features on them of popular artists who did not actually know the person who passed away; that just feels so disrespectful to the deceased artist and should just not be done. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on Lil Peep’s new posthumous album, Everybody’s Everything.
Why the fuck you lyin’ in the streets? Why the fuck you lyin’ to me? Why the fuck you lyin’ to her? You couldn’t even buy her the purse…
Everybody’s Everything gets off to a pretty awesome start with the track ‘Liar,’ which is the type of quintessential guitar-driven emo-trap banger that Lil Peep was known for. This song is emotional and gritty and aggressive and in your face and I really dig it; Peep was calling out all of the posers that lie and say they are like him to get with girls when they are not like him. My favorite thing about this track is the hard-ass guitar riff that drives the melody throughout the song. This song also does a great job of showing off how talented Peep was at this emo-trap thing; he was able to blend emo-style singing with rapping so well that it is like he is sitting directly in between emo-rock and trap music. I am sure a lot of people really dig the next song, which is called ‘Aquafina’ and features Rich the Kid, but this one is not really my cup of tea. I mean the song is hard as hell and Peep’s performance is very good, but this song is too much like a proto-typical trap track with a lazy guitar riff inserted for the melody. I have a feeling that this song was not close to being finished when Peep was alive and they threw in the Rich the Kid feature after he died to give the album more trap appeal. I am not really into that notion, and I wish the beat and melody for this one had been fleshed out more because it just feels incomplete to me. The next track, ‘Ratchets,’ features the Goth Boi Clique artist Lil Tracy and Diplo; this kind of surprises me, because I have to say this does not sound like a Diplo type of instrumental at all. I guess it is just another example of how diverse of a producer he is. This song kinda reminds me of the mid-2000s melodic trap, like the kind of stuff Jeezy used to make. I could totally see Jeezy rapping on this instrumental back in 2007. I really dig Lil Tracy’s performance on this song; I have always been a fan of his singing. The next two tracks, ‘Fangirl’ and ‘LA to London, both feature another Goth Boi Clique artist, Gab3, and honestly these two songs kind of sound the same to me. Like it literally sounds like they tweaked the melody from ‘Fangirl’ because they liked it and had them rap about it again. Or maybe since this is basically a compilation of demos, they decided to re-record the song because they didn’t like how it turned out the first time or something. It is a nice melody, so I understand why they would not want to waste it if that was the case. I wonder when these songs were recorded because the vocals and flows actually reminded me a lot of emo-trap from 2019. I guess Lil Peep really was way ahead of his time.
Cocaine white, Hi-Tech Sprite. Girls all night, Imma end my life. Fuck your cars, mind on Mars. Drugs and guitars, I’m a real rockstar…
‘Rockstars,’ which once again features Gab3, is easily one of my favorite songs on this record. This track is just so damn hard and I love the attitude and energy that both artists are performing with on this song. This is true emo/punk rock hip hop music; it is toeing the line so perfectly between the two genres that it is pretty impossible to label it into one genre. Music like this is why Peep was so special; the dude was truly creating his own genres and carving out his own path. ‘Text Me,’ with features Era, is totally unique for this album, totally unique for Lil Peep, and totally unique for music today in general. This song is like a sad folk-rock acoustic rap song; it is like if John Mayer decided he wanted to start sing-rapping on his music. It is very emotional and very down-tempo for Lil Peep, and it is cool to see him explore this untouched area of music. I imagine if he had been given the chance he could have developed this sound into a new popular genre just like he did with emo rock and trap music. ‘PRINCESS’ is another totally different sounding song that is pretty, unlike any other rap music that is being made right now. My favorite thing about this one is the weird synths that are used throughout the song to produce the melody; it literally sounds like a child’s toy made this melody, and it reminds me of the Rugrats theme song. This is one of the songs that would have definitely benefited from him having more time to work on it, as it does not feel that fleshed out or complete to me. The next three songs, ‘Moving On,’ ‘Belgium,’ and ‘When I Lie,’ were actually released together as a single earlier in the fall in anticipation for the album. They are all very typical emo trap sounding songs; like if someone asked me to play a song that resembles the genre or resembles a lot of Lil Peep’s sound very well. My favorite song out of these three is definitely the middle track, ‘Belgium.’ The guitar riff on this song is super 90s and super sick; it sort of reminds me of Nirvana, but it has a a metal and industrial sludge element that sort of reminds me of Marilyn Manson. I would have loved to hear Peep explore these harder elements of rock music like this. Imagine if Lil Peep could have made music like or with Rage Against the Machine, that would have been so sick and interesting.
The song after that trio of tracks that were released together as a single is the other song off of this record that was released as a single, ‘I’ve Been Waiting,’ which features IloveMakkonen. The version of this song that is on Everybody’s Everything is actually the original version of the song, which was recorded without Fall Out Boy. It is crazy how different the song sounds without the Fall Out Boy feature; all of the lyrics sung by Patrick Stump are not in this version of the song, as well as some of the lyrics sung by Peep. The influence and input that Fall Out Boy had on the version that was released as a single are so damn noticeable. The weirdest thing to me is how melancholy and somber this version of the song sounds. I mean the melody and beat are the same and there are not that many lyrics in this one that is not in the original, but this version just sounds so much sadder. I do not know if this is just because it doesn’t have Patrick Stump’s high-voiced singing or if there is something I am missing, but this version of ‘I’ve Been Waiting’ is not exactly the summer jam that the other version is. ‘Live Forever’ is another song that I would call a proto-typical emo-trap joint; if someone were to ask me to play a song that either exemplifies emo-trap or Lil Peep in the best way, ‘Live Forever’ is a song that I could pit. The melancholy and monotone performance of Lil Peep adds so much emotion to the track. My favorite thing about ‘Live Forever’ is the weird sputtering hi-hats; they really add to the texture of the song and keep it from getting too monotonous and stale sounding. ‘ghost boy’ is another favorite for me; it is probably one of the most different sounding tracks on the album. ‘ghost boy’ has a warm melody that is produced by a guitar and has weird synths added in; this melody has so much texture and will never bore me. This is probably the least somber and serious-sounding track on the record; it is the first song to me that does not really necessarily have the emo and punk vibe that Peep was known for, and is a different kind of rock-rap. ‘ghost boy’ is another example of how diverse of an artist Lil Peep was; although he was labeled as mainly an emo artist, he could rap on pretty much any kind of song and bend genres in so many different ways. ‘Keep My Coo’ is another major highlight for me. This song brings us back into the somber tone that Peep is known for, but it definitely has a lot more attitude and angst than most of the other songs on this record. The melody is sort of menacing and foreboding in a way and the production is super hard, giving the song a pretty angry tone. This angry tone is helped out by Lil Peep’s vocal performance, which is probably my favorite one on this record. This song almost does not sound like Lil Peep; on ‘Keep My Coo,’ he raps with a higher pitch and more energy than we are used to, and his flow sort of reminds me of slowthai on this song. It sounds like Lil Peep is on the verge of yelling at and blowing up on someone. Although I love what this attitude does for this song, I would not have wanted to have to talk to Peep after he recorded this song because he had to have been in a very bad mood.
Standing in the club, like, lil mama in my eyesight. She going home with me tonight, we connect like WiFi. Yayo on the table, Gucci on my waist, too. Got my switchblade, tonight I’ll be safe.
‘White tee’ is one of the tracks on Everybody’s Everything that is not new and was actually released years ago on SoundCloud; it is definitely legendary within the world of Lil Peep’s fans, as it is the first song that he ever collaborated with Lil Tracy. This track has that classic cloud rap vibe which is another kind of music that Lil Peep and his frequent collaborators made popular. The instrumental and flow of this song remind me a lot of rappers like Playboi Carti or Lil Uzi Vert. I imagine that there has been a lot of partying and a lot of drugs that have been done with this song playing; I am glad that it is on this record because it deserves to get more mainstream attention since it is a damn banger. If I had to pick a song that embodies Lil Peep’s whole image and vibe as a person and a song that exemplifies his sound super well, ‘cobain,’ which also features Lil Tracy, is that song. This track is super dark and foreboding and anxious; it is a super heavy song that has a hard ass emo-rock vibe as well as a spacey and weird cloud rap element as well. You can just hear the pain in Lil Peep’s voice on this song. The next track, ‘switchblade,’ which once again features Lil Tracy, is one of the hardest bangers on this record, and it is another one of my favorites. Over a hard-ass melodic metal riff, Peep and Tracy rap about how they were rejects growing up and how this constant dejection helped lead to their huge drug problems. I do not even know if I can call this one emo-trap; this shit is like truly heavy metal trap music. It is just another example of how diverse his sound was as well as how innovative he was. The album ends on a strange and cool note, with ‘walk away as the door slams,’ which also features Lil Tracy, of course. This track is not even a rap song at all; it is literally an acoustic pop-punk song. It actually reminds me a lot of some of Blink 182’s acoustic music. Peep’s and Tracy’s performances on this song are really excellent; I guess I did not realize these guys can make non-hip hop music so well. I would have really loved to have heard Lil Peep pursue this kind of music more because he honestly excelled at it. At least we will always have ‘walk away as the door slams’ to be reminded of the potential that he had.
Although it is definitely not perfect and a lot of the material is rough around the edges, Lil Peep’s Everybody’s Everything still does a very good job at showcasing all of the musical talent that Lil Peep had, as well as show off how many types of hip hop music he was able to excel at. I mean you have excellent examples of emo-trap, pop-punk hip hop, metal-tap, and even acoustic punk music. It is such a travesty that this guy was not able to live longer and create more, and we are indebted to him for so many elements of popular hip hop music today. Everybody’s Everything also does an excellent job at highlighting some of the other artists in Lil Peep’s Goth Boi Clique, with artists like Lil Tracy and Gab3 and producers like Fish Narc stealing the show on a few of these tracks. All in all, this record has a lot of music that I will be listening to a lot in the future, and all I can do is thank the Goth Boi Clique and Lil Peep’s family for letting us hear this music. R.I.P., Lil Peep.
EAST SIDE VIBES 