Music To Die For

By: Isabella Cuéllar

What do, Kurt Cobain, XXXTentacion, Pop Smoke, and Lil Peep have in common? For one, they were all very successful musicians. However there is another thing that ties them together: they have all passed away at a very young age. It’s the phenomenon that haunts the majority of all rap and rock musicians: recklessness. “Live fast, die young,” a motto that is so common amongst the music industry and seems like it’s installed in musicians’ brains the day they decide to pursue a career in music. The following article will look into the lives and causes of death of Kurt Cobain, Pop Smoke, XXXTentacion, and Lil Peep, all renowned names within their genres. So, is it possible that an artist’s life expectancy is influenced by their genre?

Kurt Cobain’s lyrics are packed with multiple auto bibliographical references through which he conveys very dark themes, existential questions, and social critiques. The cause of death of Nirvana’s lead singer has been a widely debated topic for years, amongst many theories, suicide by overdose has come up as the main reason. A more recent passing has been the one of rapper Lil Peep, who idolized Cobain and confessed he was one of the reasons he decided to do music. Just like his idol, Peep includes dreadful lyrics referencing his troubled childhood, heartbreak, rebelliousness, and existentialism in his rock-infused beats. An article by the prestigious music magazine Rolling Stone titled “Was rapper Lil Peep destined to be the next Kurt Cobain?” Proposes the following, “Are the frequent Kurt Cobain comparisons surrounding Peep — some made by the artist himself — justified?” This article makes an interesting point regarding the legacy and influence of past musicians on musicians of today. Lil Peep confessed that a lot of his music and style was inspired by Nirvana’s lead singer, to the point where he covered his songs, made many references to his lyrics in his works, and made a song about him and his lifestyle. Did he want a death like him as well?

Suicide and accidental overdose are the other top two reasons for young artists’ deaths. According

to a study made by The Conversation, “For male musicians across all genres, accidental death (including all vehicular incidents and accidental overdose) accounted for almost 20% of all deaths. But accidental death for rock musicians was higher than this (24.4%) and for metal musicians higher still (36.2%).” It was also stated that “Suicide accounted for almost 7% of all deaths in the total sample. However, for rock musicians, suicide accounted for 11% of deaths; for metal musicians, a staggering 19.3%.” This evidence suggests that artists who depict the infamous “live fast, die young” type of lifestyle in their lyrics like Lil Peep and his idol Cobain have a higher risk of dying by suicide and accidental overdose. Can this fast-paced lifestyle full of adrenaline and carelessness be a facade to cover up the actual pain these artists are feeling, and thus their reason for death?

Apart from rock, rap is perhaps the genre with more reported deaths and violence. Pop Smoke’s lyrics are heavily influenced by his childhood experiences, growing up being surrounded by gangs, violence, and drugs. He accompanies his one-ofa-kind voice with lyrics filled with gang-related themes and violence, as well as the extravagant lifestyle and status he achieved through music. XXXTentacion was an artist who not only portrayed his rapper lifestyle, his lyrics are flooded with deep stories and anecdotes of heartbreak and pain. Both artists were shot in attempted robberies. Perhaps their desire to expose the extravagant life and material possessions they had achieved through music was a factor that influenced their unfortunate demise.

Homicide is one of the main causes of death of rap artists. According to a study made by the scholarly news website, The Conversation, “Murder accounted for 6.0% of deaths across the sample, but was the cause of 51% of deaths in rap musicians and 51.5% of deaths for hip hop musicians, to date. This could be due to these genres’ strong associations with drugrelated crime and gang culture.” Some examples of brutal deaths by violence have been the one of Pop Smoke and XXXTentacion who sadly passed away at the age of 20 years old, leaving

an immense hole in the current rap scene and in the hearts of millions of supporters.

Another question arises, does the “hood” follow a rapper into fame? This can be a way to explain the violence associated with the rap industry. As mentioned before, both Pop Smoke and XXXTentacion had a challenging upbringing being involved in gangs, drugs, and lack of opportunity since they were very young. The problems in the hood seem to be like a curse they can never escape, and regardless of making it out of there, these rappers always find themselves involved in the same challenges faced when they used to be just another kid living in the projects.

The list of artists who have passed away at shockingly young ages is a very long one. Particularly, if you look at the genres they played you will see an increase in death rates amongst rap and rock genres especially. Some may argue that this is due to the fact that many rappers and their lyrics are related to guns, gangs, and violence, which

might be true. The “rockstar lifestyle” is what so many artists want to achieve when beginning their careers, but as they might think this lifestyle will be the highlight of their life, they might be wishing for a quick end. Now, this goes back to the whole “live fast, die young” movement and may explain why there is a higher rate of death cases amongst rappers and rockers.

These artists lived a hyperfast life full of struggles and pain which have sparked their creativity and talent to become notorious names in the industry. These were just some of the many names who have passed at the peak of their careers. Choosing the rap and rock lifestyle changes you completely, you have to be aware of the cultural practices linked with each genre. Drugs, suicide, violence, and gangs are the conditions written in the small font when signing your life up for the rock and rap industry, you must look at each condition carefully before committing. Whether it is a phenomenon or a tendency, one thing is clear: rap and rock artists’ deaths are the most common of all genre-related lifestyle deaths.