Earlier this week, the music world lost another artist as Lil Peep passed away at the age 21. He was found unconscious on his metro bus at around 9 P.M., on November 15th in Arizona. Lil Peep was an up and coming rapper entering into a whole new genre of music known as 'emo hip-hop'. Although the toxicology reports have yet to be released, officials have concluded that there are no signs of ill intent or foul play.
Lil Peep's death highlights a more serious issue that has been going on now for decades, especially in the music industry.
More and more every day, these artists are using different drugs and mixing them with other supplements. We have recently seen this trend and its effects on rapper Lil Wayne and his increase in seizures. Lil Wayne 'sipped lean' almost daily, and it started to have a crazy effect on his mental and physical health. Recently, Gucci Mane released an autobiography and in it, he describes the effect that lean had on him and the way he functioned. It became an addiction.
Whitney Houston, God rest her soul, was also a victim of drugs. She was found to have had some cocaine in her system at the time of her death. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was also taking a number of prescription meds when he was found dead in his home in 2009. This is nothing new, unfortunately. To make matters even worse, the new generation of artists seem to identify with the lifestyle choices that altered the lives of the previous artists before them.
Rappers now when they make fame, have a particular image. If you don't see it in the way they carry themselves, then you hear it in the music. Every other song talks about either popping prescription pills, taking Xanax, or drinking lean. These very activities will kill you. Abusing prescription medication will certainly lead to a short life. Drinking promethazine and Sprite to get 'high' should never be one's preferred form of amusement.
Artists are getting younger and younger. The influence that they have on their fans goes beyond the music and the videos, fans want the lifestyle. This is where we have to think. Is this lifestyle worth it when you may not live to see the age of twenty-five? Is it worth suffering from seizures or possibly developing a form of epilepsy?
Drugs have always been a problem and celebrities are no exception.
Some of them have more demons than you can imagine. Lil Peep wasn't ready to die, and this is certainly not the way he would have wanted to. We don't know yet if drugs played a role in his death, perhaps they did, perhaps they did not. However, the current climate of the rap game suggests that drugs are involved in some way. Lil Peep's music promoted this kind of drug use and when you combine that with the circumstances of his death, it's not hard to connect.
However, we should take a lesson from this and grow. Stay away from pills and the cough syrup, unless you are suffering from an illness. Leave those habits alone, never develop them. Even in fame, the wrong decisions will end your life. Take notes from the people you listen to, it's not worth it. We should let Lil Peep's death influence us to think about the choices we make. Money can't save you, no one can save you from yourself.
