Lil Peep’s second posthumous album “Everybody’s Everything,” released on Friday, is a boring, inconsistent and depressing reminder that this emo-trap star never lived up to his full potential as an artist.
After breaking into the mainstream in 2017 with his debut album, “Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1,” Gustav Ahr, who went by Lil Peep, died later that year from an accidental Xanax overdose.
Instead of the musician’s death halting his artistic output, Lil Peep has become even more prolific in death, with two out of three of his studio albums being released after his death in November 2017.
Although close collaborators like producer Fish Narc and rapper Lil Tracy guided much of his latest album, “Everybody’s Everything” stands as a reminder that posthumous music almost never lives up to the artist’s legacy.
The album has 19 tracks and lasts 57 minutes, a runtime that makes Peep’s longest album feel uninspired and unfinished, often giving the spotlight to featured artists to pad out short songs.
Over the warm bass, bright electric guitars and snappy beat of “Fangirl,” Peep performs one of the album’s best hooks, complementing a simple melody with his gritty vocal tone.
Sadly Peep’s hook only appears at the beginning and at the end of the two-minute song, with featured rapper Gab3 filling the midsection with a mediocre verse.
“Text Me” sees Lil Peep getting upstaged on his own album again, with guest singer Era taking over the middle with his airy harmonies over clean electric guitars.
Peep’s hook is underwritten and repetitive, featuring some of the album’s most melodramatic lyrics, making his contribution to the song even more forgettable.
Moments where Lil Peep’s voice as a singer and songwriter shine are present, but very uncommon on “Everybody’s Everything.”
“Moving On” stands out as a somber, power reflection of Peep’s troubled mental state, where his lyrics characterize his drug addiction and an abusive relationship over reversed acoustic guitar samples and trap drums.
Hearing him scream, “Man, it’s gettin’ real, it’s the pain pills,” in the track’s outro feels uncomfortably appropriate, knowing how he eventually died.
Lil Peep bares his soul again on “Belgium,” where he expresses his guilt for mistreating past romantic partners over more grungy guitars, grimy bass and trap beats.
Peep’s voice breaks up and cracks with emotion in the final seconds of the track as he mumbles, “I was on my own for the past two months, I haven’t seen a friend’s face in too long.”
These moments of intimacy are powerful, but they seem a little manufactured with the knowledge that Peep was most likely long dead before other musicians assembled these tracks.
The album’s act as an authentic new release from Peep completely collapses in the second half, where most of the tracks sound completely unfinished.
In the opening seconds of “Live Forever,” the song instantly proves its demo quality by barely letting you hear Peep’s rough and breathy vocals, drowning them out with poorly mixed bass and obnoxious trap drums.
On “cobain,” muffled guitars are completely drowned out by tinny drums and all-consuming thumps of 808 bass.
After Lil Peep’s underperformed hook, Lil Tracy makes the track even worse with an uninspired and off-beat verse.
The album’s closing track, “Walk away as the door slams – acoustic,” sums up the entire album’s experience.
Peep’s gritty performance over simple acoustic strumming sounds artificially touched up with overbearing reverb and layering, followed by yet another boring and misplaced performance by Lil Tracy.
As an overall experience, “Everybody’s Everything” feels just like this disappointing ending: a fake, unpolished and neutered serving of Lil Peep’s leftovers.
