When burgeoning hip-hop stars Lil Peep and XXXTentacion both died within the same 12 month span — Peep at the end of 2017, XXX early this summer — they each left behind a wealth of unreleased music that they had been working on before their untimely demises. Now, with the help of songwriter and producer ILoveMakonnen and the approval of both artists’ families, a posthumous collaboration has been released titled, “Falling Down.” Check it out above.
“Falling Down” sounds typical of both artists’ styles, incorporating both the emo rock proclivities both embraced, with more crooning than rapping. Makonnen told XXL that XXX realized that he wanted to work with the late Peep while working with Makonnen, who’d also done sessions with Lil Peep before his passing. A vocal clip of XXX speaking during the song confirms that he only realized too late that he wanted to collaborate with Peep; unfortunately, the collaboration was only able to come together after both young artists had passed.
“It came together from me and Lil Peep’s session in London when we were working on our album there,” Makonnen said. “We wrote the hook in the hotel, then went to the studio and laid the hook down on the track. We did it with a whole bunch of other songs in London, me and Lil Peep. Kinda semi-finished it, but we never really fully finalized it.” With both young artists’ mothers’ blessing, the track hit streaming services, serving as a semi-final testament to their respective, complicated legacies.
