Lil Peep - Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1 (2017) REVIEW
By Patrick Baker
Genre/s - Emo Rap, Pop Punk, Rap Rock
Other Albums/EP's/Compilations:
Blackbear, XXXTentacion, Spooky Black, Yung Lean, Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Horsehead, Fishnarc, iLoveMakonnen, Trippie Redd
After emerging on to the internet rap scene in 2015, Lil Peep (real name Gustav Elijah Åhr) would go on to be a pioneering figure in the emo rap scene. After a string of underground hits in 2016 such as the emotion filled Crybaby, and the definitive Hellboy, Lil Peep would go on to release his first studio album, Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 in August, 2017. Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 was primarily produced by longtime collaborator and close friend, Smokeasac (Real name Dylan Mullen) as well as the production trio IIVI (made up of George Astasio, Jason Pebworth and Jon Shave), and featured no samples unlike his previous works. The album was met with mostly positive reactions and was praised for its harrowing and honest lyrics, as well as its' amazing production. Lil Peep, alongside emo rap collective GothBoiClique (GBC) would commence his 'Come Over When You're Sober' Tour in October that same year. Unfortunately, Lil Peep was found alone and unresponsive on his tour bus before his show in Tuscon, Arizona on the 15th November 2017. When emergency services arrived, Lil Peep was pronounced dead on scene, and it was later determined that his cause of death was an accidental overdose of Xanax laced with Fentanyl. Fentanyl is an incredibly strong opiod pain-killer around 100x stronger than morphine, and is unfortunately commonly laced with drugs such as cocaine and heroin without users knowledge. Its potency makes for a high chance of fatal overdose. He was 21. Lil Peep had been open about his struggles with substance abuse, mental health and suicidal thoughts in his lyrics and interviews, but nonetheless was a life taken too soon. At the time of his death, Lil Peep's Spotify was averaging 400,000 monthly listeners, which has shot up to just over 10,000,000 at the time of writing, making him the 364th most listened artist on the platform currently. His management and mother, Liza Womack would go on to posthumously release a full length album, an extended play and compilation all using previous unused audio recordings or re-workings of older songs. The documentary, Everybody's Everything would release in 2019, and provided a detailed insight into the troubled life and career of the late rapper, as well as the controversy surrounding his death. Alongside the documentary, a compilation album would release under the same name as the documentary. Everybody's Everything (documentary) was directed by Sebastian Jones and Ramez Silyan, alongside Liza Womack. The documentary can be found on Netflix.
The first Lil Peep track I had heard was the 2015 release, 'Star Shopping' on SoundCloud in 2016 as my family were driving. Its spacey, acoustic driven instrumental alongside the reverb heavy vocals of Peep and lyrics alluding to a girl that Peep truly cared about (It is unclear who this person was, or if she even existed). From that moment on, I would proceed to listen to every new and previous release, most of which were on SoundCloud, and was just completely invested in this heavily tattooed, skinny, scruffy looking rapper from Long Island. When Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 released, I listened to it the first chance I got, and was just blown away by everything about it. The instrumentals are almost flawless and Peeps vocals retained that same angst and raw emotion in majority of tracks, the exception being 'Benz Truck (Гелик)', with its' boastful lyrics being more influenced by the SoundCloud rap movement. Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 still holds the classic SoundCloud Peep atmosphere, but is all put-together in a much more refined and professional sounding album. Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 lyrical subject matter mainly revolves around the contradiction of being young and free, but also overwhelmingly pessimistic and to put it bluntly, sad. Peep had begun to break loose from the grips of the SoundCloud rap movement after the release of Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1, and his journey to becoming a superstar artist had begun, but was ultimately cut short by his tragic death that same year.
The thing I find myself loving most about Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 is the lyrics, and the way Peep delivers them. At the beginning of the beat switch on the track, 'U Said', Peep blurts out a simple line, that is repeated in various parts of the track that I believe cuts to the core of the reason why many chase that short moment of bliss through drugs and alcohol;
On the track, 'Save That Shit', his third most listened song on
Spotify, Peep raps about his previous troubled relationship, alluding to the complexity of his feelings and thoughts. In almost a single breath, he goes from lyrics like, 'Nothin' like those other motherfuckers, I can make you rich', to 'Fuck my life, can't save that girl. Don't tell me you could save that shit' and then 'Do I make you scared? Baby won't you take me back?'. A whole range of emotions shown in just under 4 minutes. And this theme is recurrent in a lot of the album, subject matters about his sentiment toward death, exemplified in the trap influenced, poppy and aptly named track, 'Better Off (Dying)', unhealthy romantic relationships, shown in 'Awful Things' which also features long-time collaborator Lil Tracy, and his longing for a happier and a more fulfilling life in the track, 'The Brightside'. I feel like the primary reason that a lot of the younger generation, like myself enjoy Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 is that the lyrics resonate with that demographic. Lil Peep's primary audience is typically of the age where drug experimentation happens, mental illness can emerge and sometimes even unstable emotional patterns, and his songs are almost an embodiment of this, which is why I feel like he has become so highly praised among many. Where I think Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 stumbles is the potential for lyrics to be interpreted as a glorification of drug-use, which is something that I can definitely see. As to whether or not that was Peep's intention is a mystery to me and many, and unfortunately will never be answered by the man himself. Another issue is that the instrumentals can sometimes feel like 'too much' and 'overly cluttered', but is still bearable.
Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 is an extremely honest, and raw portrayal of Peep's lived experience saturated in well produced trap influenced guitar beats. It is a touching sentiment to the life that he lived, and while he lived a troubled life, he provided many with tracks that they could relate to on an emotional level. Peep provided a lot of joy to the world, and Come Over When You're Sober is a great listening experience for almost any occasion, whether that be a party, personal listening or driving with mates, and to me is worth a listen or two.
Favourite Tracks
- Save That Shit
- Awful Things - Lil Tracy
- U Said
- Better Off (Dying)
- The Brightside
Least Favourite Tracks
- Problems
- Benz Truck (Гелик)
Related Videos from Lil Peep
Lil Peep - Save That Shit (Official Video)
Lil Peep - Awful Things ft. Lil Tracy (Official Video)
Lil Peep - benz truck (prod. smokeasac)
Lil Peep - The Brightside
If you or someone you know has a problem with addiction, please consider using the links below and don't be afraid to seek help:
Genre/s - Emo Rap, Pop Punk, Rap Rock
Other Albums/EP's/Compilations:
- Feelz EP (2015)
- Lil Peep; Part One (2015)
- Live Forever (2015)
- Vertigo (2016)
- California Girls EP (2016)
- Crybaby (2016)
- Teen Romance EP (2016)
- Hellboy (2016)
- Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 2 (2018)
- Goth Angel Sinner (2019)
- Everybody's Everything (2019) (compilation)
Blackbear, XXXTentacion, Spooky Black, Yung Lean, Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Horsehead, Fishnarc, iLoveMakonnen, Trippie Redd
 |
OVERALL SCORE //
8.5/10 |
After emerging on to the internet rap scene in 2015, Lil Peep (real name Gustav Elijah Åhr) would go on to be a pioneering figure in the emo rap scene. After a string of underground hits in 2016 such as the emotion filled Crybaby, and the definitive Hellboy, Lil Peep would go on to release his first studio album, Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 in August, 2017. Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 was primarily produced by longtime collaborator and close friend, Smokeasac (Real name Dylan Mullen) as well as the production trio IIVI (made up of George Astasio, Jason Pebworth and Jon Shave), and featured no samples unlike his previous works. The album was met with mostly positive reactions and was praised for its harrowing and honest lyrics, as well as its' amazing production. Lil Peep, alongside emo rap collective GothBoiClique (GBC) would commence his 'Come Over When You're Sober' Tour in October that same year. Unfortunately, Lil Peep was found alone and unresponsive on his tour bus before his show in Tuscon, Arizona on the 15th November 2017. When emergency services arrived, Lil Peep was pronounced dead on scene, and it was later determined that his cause of death was an accidental overdose of Xanax laced with Fentanyl. Fentanyl is an incredibly strong opiod pain-killer around 100x stronger than morphine, and is unfortunately commonly laced with drugs such as cocaine and heroin without users knowledge. Its potency makes for a high chance of fatal overdose. He was 21. Lil Peep had been open about his struggles with substance abuse, mental health and suicidal thoughts in his lyrics and interviews, but nonetheless was a life taken too soon. At the time of his death, Lil Peep's Spotify was averaging 400,000 monthly listeners, which has shot up to just over 10,000,000 at the time of writing, making him the 364th most listened artist on the platform currently. His management and mother, Liza Womack would go on to posthumously release a full length album, an extended play and compilation all using previous unused audio recordings or re-workings of older songs. The documentary, Everybody's Everything would release in 2019, and provided a detailed insight into the troubled life and career of the late rapper, as well as the controversy surrounding his death. Alongside the documentary, a compilation album would release under the same name as the documentary. Everybody's Everything (documentary) was directed by Sebastian Jones and Ramez Silyan, alongside Liza Womack. The documentary can be found on Netflix.
The first Lil Peep track I had heard was the 2015 release, 'Star Shopping' on SoundCloud in 2016 as my family were driving. Its spacey, acoustic driven instrumental alongside the reverb heavy vocals of Peep and lyrics alluding to a girl that Peep truly cared about (It is unclear who this person was, or if she even existed). From that moment on, I would proceed to listen to every new and previous release, most of which were on SoundCloud, and was just completely invested in this heavily tattooed, skinny, scruffy looking rapper from Long Island. When Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 released, I listened to it the first chance I got, and was just blown away by everything about it. The instrumentals are almost flawless and Peeps vocals retained that same angst and raw emotion in majority of tracks, the exception being 'Benz Truck (Гелик)', with its' boastful lyrics being more influenced by the SoundCloud rap movement. Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 still holds the classic SoundCloud Peep atmosphere, but is all put-together in a much more refined and professional sounding album. Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 lyrical subject matter mainly revolves around the contradiction of being young and free, but also overwhelmingly pessimistic and to put it bluntly, sad. Peep had begun to break loose from the grips of the SoundCloud rap movement after the release of Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1, and his journey to becoming a superstar artist had begun, but was ultimately cut short by his tragic death that same year.
The thing I find myself loving most about Come Over When You're Sober Pt.1 is the lyrics, and the way Peep delivers them. At the beginning of the beat switch on the track, 'U Said', Peep blurts out a simple line, that is repeated in various parts of the track that I believe cuts to the core of the reason why many chase that short moment of bliss through drugs and alcohol;
~♩ Sometimes life gets fucked up (fucked up), That's why we get fucked up (we get fucked up) ♩ ~
On the track, 'Save That Shit', his third most listened song on Spotify, Peep raps about his previous troubled relationship, alluding to the complexity of his feelings and thoughts. In almost a single breath, he goes from lyrics like, 'Nothin' like those other motherfuckers, I can make you rich', to 'Fuck my life, can't save that girl. Don't tell me you could save that shit' and then 'Do I make you scared? Baby won't you take me back?'. A whole range of emotions shown in just under 4 minutes. And this theme is recurrent in a lot of the album, subject matters about his sentiment toward death, exemplified in the trap influenced, poppy and aptly named track, 'Better Off (Dying)', unhealthy romantic relationships, shown in 'Awful Things' which also features long-time collaborator Lil Tracy, and his longing for a happier and a more fulfilling life in the track, 'The Brightside'. I feel like the primary reason that a lot of the younger generation, like myself enjoy Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 is that the lyrics resonate with that demographic. Lil Peep's primary audience is typically of the age where drug experimentation happens, mental illness can emerge and sometimes even unstable emotional patterns, and his songs are almost an embodiment of this, which is why I feel like he has become so highly praised among many. Where I think Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 stumbles is the potential for lyrics to be interpreted as a glorification of drug-use, which is something that I can definitely see. As to whether or not that was Peep's intention is a mystery to me and many, and unfortunately will never be answered by the man himself. Another issue is that the instrumentals can sometimes feel like 'too much' and 'overly cluttered', but is still bearable.
Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 is an extremely honest, and raw portrayal of Peep's lived experience saturated in well produced trap influenced guitar beats. It is a touching sentiment to the life that he lived, and while he lived a troubled life, he provided many with tracks that they could relate to on an emotional level. Peep provided a lot of joy to the world, and Come Over When You're Sober is a great listening experience for almost any occasion, whether that be a party, personal listening or driving with mates, and to me is worth a listen or two.
Favourite Tracks
- Save That Shit
- Awful Things - Lil Tracy
- U Said
- Better Off (Dying)
- The Brightside
Least Favourite Tracks
- Problems
- Benz Truck (Гелик)
Related Videos from Lil Peep
Lil Peep - Save That Shit (Official Video)
Lil Peep - Awful Things ft. Lil Tracy (Official Video)
Lil Peep - benz truck (prod. smokeasac)
Lil Peep - The Brightside
If you or someone you know has a problem with addiction, please consider using the links below and don't be afraid to seek help:
- https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/topics/substance-abuse-and-addiction
- https://au.reachout.com/tough-times/addiction
- https://adf.org.au/help-support/
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