The Origins of A Rapper Gone Way Too Soon

Gustav Elijiah Åhr, better known as Lil Peep, was a rapper, singer, and songwriter before he overdosed on Xanax and passed away on November 15th, 2017, at the age of 21. His parents, first-grade teacher Liza Womack and Hofstra University professor Karl Johan Åhr, were both Harvard University graduates. Gustav was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but was raised in Long Island, New York. His father, being a college professor, was growing more absent through Gustav’s childhood, until his father formally divorced from his mother when he was 14 years old. Despite his parents both being in the field of education, Gustav was not fond of the education system, although he earned consistently good grades. During his years at Long Beach High School, a closed-campus high school, Gustav would scale the 20 foot fence and run from the on-campus security guard in order to skip class. He would soon drop out, but still wanted to earn his diploma, so he took an online course, which required one essay per week. His mother, who he referred to as his best friend, helped him with these essays and he ultimately earned his diploma. Like many of our generation, he felt like an outcast and a loner, and made many of his friends online. He began to produce music, under the name “Trap Goose” with a $200 microphone and GarageBand, a free audio-production application. He began to post his music on YouTube and SoundCloud and shortly thereafter, he got his first face tattoo at the age of 17. The tattoo was a broken-heart and it was under his left eye, which motivated him to continue his music career. Soon after, he would move to Los Angeles and begin to release music under the name “Lil Peep”. 

His time in Los Angeles was not met with immediate fame and success as he was in and out of homelessness, living with friends he met online. He lived in Skid Row, Los Angeles, which is a very poor community and has the largest homeless population in the world. It was not until Gustav met Craig Xen that he began to build popularity. With Craig Xen and other aspiring rappers, Gustav would form a rap collective known as Schemaposse and live with them. Throughout all of these struggles, Gustav would attend Glendale Community College for a year, earning the Dean’s List for both semesters, before he dropped out to pursue his music career. In 2015, he would release his first mixtape, Lil Peep; Part One, followed by his EP, Feelz, and very short after that, his sophomore mixtape, Live Forever. His music had influences from punk rock and rap, which made him a pioneer voice in the emo revival of the 2010s. He began to pick up popularity and gain traction on the internet. From the popularity of his songs, “Star Shopping” and “Beamer Boy”, he had his first live performance in Tucson, Arizona in 2016. In a little over a year, Gustav would return to this venue to perform a concert and be found dead in his tour bus. He would go on to release two more mixtapes, Crybaby and Hellboy. Gustav earned mainstream popularity from his mixtape, Hellboy, which would catapult him from rap’s underground onto his first solo tour across the country.

 

After his tour, he would emigrate to London, England and record his albums Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1, Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt.2, and Goth Angel Singer, over the course of a few months. He would begin a World Tour in September, 2017 for the Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1 album, which began in the United Kingdom. On November 15, 2017, the tour would end abruptly when Gustav overdosed on Xanax before performing in Tucson, Arizona. His popularity would grow immensely after his death, as a lot of posthumous collaborations were released by many different artists.

An Analysis of Lil Peep

From Lil Peep’s unique style, which was a blend of punk and rap, he began a resurgence of what was dubbed “emo-trap”. Many described him as the new Kurt Cobain, as his lyrics were about depression, drug use, past relationships, and suicidal thoughts. Smokeasac, an executive producer on one of his albums, said that Lil Peep “wanted to give a voice to people that suffer from anxiety and depression, people who have been abused, bullied, and the people who were misunderstood like him. He had demons of his own and he faced those demons by creating music.” His mother used to call him “Peep”, so like many rappers, he added “Lil” to the front of his nickname and viola! Unlike the rebellion often associated with punk, Lil Peep considered his mother as his best friend. As he continuously suffered from depression and bipolar disorder, he showed his audience that he understood what they were going through, and that is appropriate to talk about mental health. Unfortunately, he could not help himself or find help for himself before succumbing to a Xanax overdose. However, he lives on in the hearts of his fans. The brightest stars burn the quickest. Rest in peace, Gustav Elijiah Åhr.

A Unique Rapper’s Origin

Symere Woods, better known as Lil Uzi Vert, was born on July 31st, 1994, in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In North Philadelphia’s Francisville neighborhood, he would travel back and forth from his father’s to his mother’s house because they split when Woods was very young. Growing up, Woods was an outcast but he didn’t really mind it, he enjoyed skateboarding and listening to rock music, along with rap and hip hop that his father passed onto him during his visits. His father introduced him to Philadelphia rap artists such as State Property and, specifically, Beanie Siegel, who was a member of that rap group. Woods also listened to Marilyn Manson, Paramore, and The All-American Rejects, which all influenced his music and is a major reason why his music stands out from the rest of his competitors. As a result of bullying, Woods stopped listening to rock in high school and began listening to Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill, the former being his favorite rapper of all time. However, besides his stint of playing the trumpet for the school band, Woods never thought to pursue music as a career or as a hobby. When a classmate, William Aston, became famous around the school for his freestyles, Woods got jealous and began to record freestyles over beats he found on YouTube. Born purely out of his jealousy over another classmate, Woods had a natural talent for music and began to pursue it in the tenth grade. Woods, Aston, and another classmate formed a rap group called, Steaktown, possibly named after the city they lived in, Philadelphia, which is known for their cheesesteaks. In the group, Woods’ name was Steaktown Vertical and people began to call him Vert. However, the group split a year later when Woods was 17 and shortly after, Woods dropped out of school. After four days as a bag boy at a Bottom Dollar store, Woods quit.

His mother was not fond of Woods’ musical pursuit, so she kicked him out of the house. He moved in with his grandmother, who lived in a nursing home, but Woods loved the time with his grandmother, no matter the small living arrangement. Woods began posting his music on SoundCloud, which caught the attention of DJ Buzz Worthy, who introduced Woods to Charlie Heat, the producer of Woods’ song, Uzi. During production of this song, Woods was writing another song, which would skyrocket his fame when it got played on Philly’s Power 99 Station. Don Cannon, a music executive for Atlantic Records, was driving around Philly, heard Woods’ song, and called the radio station to get in contact with Woods. Wiz Khalifa had a Philadelphia stop in his tour, so Don Cannon got in contact with Wiz Khalifa and arranged a meetup between the two rappers. Shortly after, Woods would sign to Atlantic Records with Don Cannon and begin working on his mixtapes, Luv is Rage and Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World. These mixtapes would catapult Woods to become one of the 2016 XXL Freshman, a recognition for rising rap artists in their first year. He would go on to release another hit mixtape, The Perfect LUV Tape, which shot him into stardom. He would go on to tour with The Weeknd and while on tour, write the song, XO TOUR Llif3, which would go 7x platinum and make Lil Uzi Vert a household name. He would then release his debut studio album, Luv is Rage 2, which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Recently, he has had trouble with his record label because they do not allow him to release music as often as he wants. Don Cannon says that Woods’ makes almost 700 songs a year and has 3000 songs unreleased. As a result of his record label troubles, Jay Z, the father of the rap community, stepped in and signed Uzi to his record label, Roc-Nation. Uzi plans to release his second studio album, Eternal Atake, at some point in 2019.

An Analysis of Lil Uzi Vert

Symere Woods’s first rap name was Steaktown Vertical when he was in the rap group, Steaktown, with his high school friends. The vertical was a metaphor to shooting to the top of the industry, like a vertical jump. People began to call him Vert for short and then one random listener to his SoundCloud music said that Woods’ rapped fast like a machine gun, like a “lil uzi”. Henceforth, he was named Lil Uzi Vert. Lil Uzi Vert, like his name, is very unique in the rap industry. Uzi can influence the lives of young adults more than the president can even imagine. He is an icon to many, so when his 7x platinum single, XO TOUR LliF3, exposed his trouble with depression and addiction, people turned their heads. He is leading the way for mainstream rappers to talk and advocate for mental health. As a result, the stigma of mental health illnesses continues to break down. In January, 2019, Uzi said that he was retiring from music because he wanted everything to go back to how it was before he was famous, but he has rescinded this statement. In an interview with iamOTHER, Uzi recounts how the only thing that gets him out of his depression is doing things for his family, like buying his grandmother’s house. The jewelry and clothes do not help with his depression, so he advocates for being family-oriented. To give back to the people who believed in you and supported you throughout life is the only way to achieve true happiness, according to Lil Uzi Vert.

A Genre-Bending Rapper’s Origin

Montero Lamar Hill, better known as Lil Nas X, was born in Lithia Springs, Georgia, a small city just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. He was born on April 9, 1999 to his two parents, Tamikia Hill and Robbert Stafford, who filed for divorce when Nas was only 6 years old. Nas lived with his mother and grandmother in the projects of Atlanta until he was 9 years old when he moved in with his father and his step-mother, Mia Stafford, in Austell, Georgia, which he is glad for because he believes he would have grown up in the wrong crowd in the Atlantan projects. His father was a gospel singer, who gave rise to Nas’ interest in music. Nas started playing the trumpet in 4th grade and during middle school earned first chair for trumpet, but he reluctantly admits that he stopped in high school because he didn’t want to look lame. Nas was a very serious student, and during high school completely abandoned his social life for the Internet, where he began creating memes and he began to gain a following with several different meme accounts. 

Up to this point, he had never pursued music as a career and his only experience with music was his father and his short stint of playing the trumpet for school. After he graduated high school in 2017, his step-mother saved all of her money and filed for financial aid, so Nas could attend college at the University of West Georgia, where he studied computer science. In the summer after his freshman year of college, he briefly considered becoming a cardiovascular surgeon and planned on using the entire summer to study. But one day he got extremely bored, and made a song. No, this song wasn’t his global certified diamond breakout song “Old Town Road”, wouldn’t that be crazy? He released a song called “Shame” on SoundCloud and realized that writing music was his passion. Nas never returned to the University of West Georgia for his sophomore year because he wanted to pursue his music career. He lived on his older sister’s couch and lived off the money he made as a worker at a local fried chicken fast-food restaurant. After discovering a beat from a Dutch teenager on YouTube, which sampled a Nine Inch Nails’ song, Nas paid $30 to the Dutch producer, YoungKio, so he could use the beat in his new song, “Old Town Road”. Nas recounts how he “could post a funny tweet and it would get 2,000 retweets, then [he’d] post a song and it would hit, like, 10,” so he knew he must combine music with virality and internet meme culture. It had to be short, it had to be catchy, it had to be “meme-able”. After a month of writing and rewriting his lyrics, he released the song in early December of his would-be Sophomore year at the University of West Georgia. At first, he would tweet memes of horses and cowboys to his followers after the release of his song, but soon the song went viral with memes filling every social media site and taking over the app, TikTok. 

He was contacted by managers and record labels who wanted to sign him within a month of the song’s release and in early March, he signed with Columbia Records. Shortly after, he recorded a remix of “Old Town Road” with Billy Ray Cyrus, which sprung his already immense hit into worldwide and multi-generational fame. The inclusion of Billy Ray Cyrus blended the genre of rap and country and fans of Billy Ray Cyrus from many generations were drawn to Lil Nas X’s new remix. Before the song went viral, Lil Nas X tweeted that he wanted Billy Ray Cyrus on the remix of the song because he knew he would draw even more attention to the single. When Cyrus first heard the song, he thought it was already perfect, but he joined in order for Nas to drop the 9 from his top 19 country billboard hit. However, Billboard decided to disqualify Nas’ song from the country billboard for not containing enough musical elements of country music. This only made the song more popular as the internet rallied behind Nas and increased news coverage of the song. Nas also recorded a remix of “Old Town Road” with Mason Ramsey, better known as the yodeling kid, who became a meme after a video of him yodeling in a Walmart went viral. 

Many people believed the song’s removal from the country Billboard list was racist and discriminatory because other country-rap songs by white artists had stayed on the country Billboard list. This would be a continuation of the erasure of black men from cowboy culture and country music. During the American Frontier, half of cowboys were black or hispanic, which is relatively unknown to the general public. However, it did not stop Nas from performing at Stagecoach, a country music festival, for his first-ever performance. A month later, he released his debut EP, 7, and it features several genre-mixing songs.“Rodeo” is another country and hip hop mix, with a very popular artist, Cardi B, so Nas sure knows how to attract people to his music. “F9mily” and “Bring U Down” are strictly from the rock genre, while “Kick it” has influences of jazz and rap. Also on this EP is his second hit song, “Panini“, which takes influences from several modern rap artists and spurred another flurry of popularity for Lil Nas X. A week after the release of his EP and during Pride month, Nas came out as gay and was greeted with an overwhelming postive reception, but also faces some hateful messages on social media. But as Nas does, he responded with jokes and deterred those spreading hatred. As a rap artist and a country artist, it took a lot of courage for Nas to come out. Both genres have heavily dismissed or shown hatred towards queer artists in their genre, but Nas joins Frank Ocean and possibly Tyler, the Creator in destigmatizing queer hip hop artists.

An Analysis of Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X has an interesting name; many people believed it to be a mix of rappers Lil Wayne, Nas, and DMX. However, this is not the case. His family and friends often called him Nas when growing up and he is a mere 20-year-old, so he still uses his childhood nickname. In an interview with BET, Nas said “when I first started rapping, I wasn’t being serious, so it’s like, ‘OK, what’ll be funny? Lil, lil, lil, [for] every new rapper.’ So, ‘Lil Nas,’ aha!”. He had a similar thought to this very blog site. With only a couple songs released, Nas chose to add “X” to his name because he had a 10 year plan to become a legend in the rap industry. Conveniently for us, we did not have to wait 10 years for Lil Nas X to become a household name. Lil Nas X embodies the youth of a new generation born with access to the Internet, along with the genius of an artist who knows how to attract listeners and garner attention. In the limelight, Nas is a beacon of positivity who everyone seems to love and I look forward to seeing what he has in store for us.

A Multi-Faceted Rapper’s Origin

Donald Glover, AKA Childish Gambino, is an American actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He was raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, a heavily populated white suburban neighborhood and his family was the only black family in the area. His parents were Jehovah’s Witnesses, which led to Glover’s fascination with the little amount of television his parents allowed him to watch. His parents were foster parents during Glover’s childhood, which led him to mature at a very young age. He was an older brother to all of the foster children, but he was still a child himself. Glover could find the balance between being childish and playful with the children, but still having the responsibilities of an older brother. 

After graduating high school as “Most likely to write for The Simpsons”, Glover attended NYU. Before graduating in 2006 with a degree in dramatic writing, he sent a potential script to NBC and they hired him as a writer on the hit comedy TV show, 30 Rock. Fellow co-writers on the TV show were comedy legends, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. He won the Writers Guild of America Award for his work on the 3rd season, which would be his last as he would depart to write and act in a feature-length film, Mystery Team. After Mystery Team, Glover was casted in NBC’s new comedy TV show, Community, and became a breakout star with his humor and overall energy. So far, his story doesn’t sound much like the typical rapper’s origin and sounds more like the birth of a comedy legend as he was one of the main writers on a hit TV show at the age of 22. 

But during his time at NBC and during the production of Mystery Team, he independently released 12 mixtapes and one EP, which caught the attention of Glassnote Records who signed him to their label. Glassnote Records only signs indie rock musicians to their label, but they saw a generational talent in Childish Gambino that they had to sign. At the time, Sony Pictures was rebooting the Spider-Man franchise, so fans urged them to cast Donald Glover as the Miles Morales version of Spiderman, who is a black and latino teenager who takes the mantle of Spider-Man after Spider-Man dies in battle. Sony Pictures did not pursue this direction for their film, but when Disney received the rights to the character, they casted Glover as Miles Morales in an animated show.

At this point he has a pretty lucrative career in music and television, so it was time to slow down, right? Wrong. Glover seems to never stop striving to fulfill his title as the most prolific creator of his generation. He went on to release three albums and two EPs and earned two platinum albums and 5 Grammy awards. Glover wrote and starred in a short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, along with a 72-page script for a film that connects the storyline of his first album, Camp, to his second album, Because the Internet. He released another mixtape, STN MTN (a stylization of the neighborhood he grew up in, Stone Mountain) and an EP, Kauai, which all of the profit went to advocating for body cameras for police officers. 

In 2015, Glover begins to write, direct, executive produce, and star in the critically acclaimed satirical comedy, Atlanta. Glover earned two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on the show. During the production of Atlanta, Glover released his third studio album, which was a huge departure from the hip hop and rap roots of his previous two albums. “Awaken, My Love!” draws influence from psychedelic soul, funk and R&B music and the whole album is a love letter to his new-born son. And then Donald Glover releases This is America, which breaks the internet and gets critical praise for its satirical representation of the music industry along with the ridicule of the police system and exposé of the history of black suffering and incarceration. In April 2019, Glover premiered his beautiful film Guava Island at Coachella, which he co-wrote with his brother, produced and starred in; here is a clip from the film.

Along with all of these accolades, Donald Glover is a member of three of the biggest film franchises of all time. In 2017, Spider-Man: Homecoming was released, which starred Donald Glover as Aaron Davis, who references having a nephew. This nephew is never shown in the film, however, in the comics, Miles Morales is his nephew, so this role was an interesting call back to the fan campaign to have him play Miles Morales back in 2010. In 2018, Glover starred in Solo: A Star Wars Story which he received critical praise for his performance of the charming and suave Lando Calrissian. In 2019, Glover voiced adult Simba in the remake of The Lion King; this role was very personal to Glover because he lost his father during the production of this film.

An Analysis of Childish Gambino

It is well known that Glover received his moniker “Childish Gambino” from a WuTang Clan rap name generator, so it would seem the name loses some of its meaning, but he still chose to use this specific name. The word “childish” embodies Glover’s energy and reflects his upbringing. He was surrounded by foster children so he gained his quick wit and energy from the constant new children he had to entertain. His first album, Camp, is entirely about his childhood and his eventual maturity by the end of the album. This is purely coincidental, but “Gambino” is an Italian word directed towards people with short legs. The retirement of the moniker “Childish Gambino” may shine light on his ultimate maturity as he might continue under a different name or focus on film and television.

A Rapper’s Origin

Scott Mescudi, better known as Kid Cudi, is an American singer and rapper born in Cleveland, Ohio. In his TEDx talk at his former high school, Mescudi recounts “that [his] upbringing in this town, the school, district, is what made [him] the man [he is] today.” As the youngest of four children, family was an integral part of Mescudi’s life, so when his father died of cancer when Mescudi was only 11 years old, it had a profound effect on his personality as he had night terrors every night for a year following his death. He gave his TEDx talk at Shaker Heights High School, which he was expelled from for threatening to punch the principal. His recent mental health advocacy and good reputation earned him the right to give a TEDx talk at his former high school. He eventually earned his GED and went to the University of Toledo and chose to be a film studies major. After the realization that Ohio was not the place for an aspiring rapper, Mescudi embarked on a journey to Brooklyn, New York. This journey was very difficult to embark on because he had to leave his mother, but she knew it was necessary for his rap career.

He left for Brooklyn in 2004 and moved in with his father’s older brother who was 80 years old at the time, but he wanted to make a connection with someone who knew his father well. He began working at a BAPE store where he would later meet a customer by the name of Kanye West and hand him his mixtape as he was completing his purchase. His uncle died in 2006 and his death inspired the song “Day ‘N’ Nite” along with many other stressful events in Mescudi’s life at the time. “Day ‘N’ Nite” follows a stressed-out adolescent who attempts to escape his loneliness and sorrow through the use of marijuana. Mescudi reflects in the third person to cast a more critical tone at his actions and the alternate name for this song “Nightmare” mirrors the night terrors he had when his father died. The song reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and caught the attention of Kanye West, who signed him to his label; the birth of Kid Cudi.

An Analysis of Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi is the word “Kid” followed by a part of his last name “Mescudi”. “Kid” invokes a sense of youthfulness and relatability. When Kid Cudi began music, he realized he could be the mouthpiece for all of the children who had no one to talk to about their depression or loneliness. He was the youthful leader of a new generation that would not be ashamed to talk about their mental health. His father’s death also plays into the creation of his name because he is honoring his father by using his last name and creating this public image of a mental health activist and charity beneficiary. To Mescudi, he is desperately trying to be the little kid he was before his father passed away, and before he had to deal with the stresses that no child should have to face. But that was in 2008, when he was still 25, he doesn’t still invoke the sense of youthfulness as he once did, right? Wrong.

In 2018, Mescudi and Kanye West formed a genre-bending music duo, KIDS SEE GHOSTS. After they both sought hospitalization for depression and other mental health issues, they formed KIDS SEE GHOSTS. After fellow rapper, Drake, mocked Mescudi for his depression and mental health issues, Mescudi became the face of mental health awareness and once again the youthful face of a generation. A breakout hit from the group’s debut album is “Reborn” where Mescudi praises the mental health professionals who helped him and how he is “reborn, movin’ forward” and no longer has stress. He shows that if you seek help for yourself, you are strong and that is the first step in being reborn.