The 10 Best Lil Peep Deep Cuts

Lil Peep had so much more to give, but what he did leave us with was special.

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Image via Getty/Victor Boyko

lil peep getty victor boyko

It's been over seven months since Lil Peep left us, and his absence is still keenly felt. Only 21 years old at the time of his death, the artist born Gustav Elijah Åhr had so much more to offer the world. More so than any artist before him, he managed to bridge the gap between emo and rap in a way that made both sides valid. He didn't just rap over emo-influenced production, or add trap drums to Microphones samples; he was, and still is, one of the greatest underground crossover successes in recent memory. 

He helped many fans cope in an increasingly dark world with a raw, emotionally honest approach which made it easy to feel every word he sang. Across the many mixtapes that arrived before his debut studio album, Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1, Peep perfected a sound entirely his own, redefining what it meant to make emo-rap

Even though the best of his career was yet to come, what he did leave us with is remarkably special. From his debut, Lil Peep Part One, onwards Peep amassed a cult following of young listeners who obsessed over everything he produced. Digging through his discography can be overwhelming, especially when so much of it is absent from streaming services, but it's a rewarding experience regardless.

To make it simpler, we've put together a list of Peep's deeper cuts, picking out some of his best material that might have flown under the radar.

"About U"

Lil Peep

Peep was never afraid to get tender in his songs, and 2016's "About U" unapologetically showed off his honesty in regards to his feelings. "Ain't nobody ever told you how I love you," he opens the song, adding, "Okay I admit I wanna fuck you/But it doesn't change the way I feel about you." It's a decidedly millennial love song, but it also reminds us that his own mortality was never far from his mind: "On the day I die, would you even cry?"

"Belgium"

Lil Peep

Performed live only a small number of times, "Belgium" remains one of Peep's best songs regardless of its unreleased status. We've been told more music from him is on the way, so perhaps with the eventual release of Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2 we'll be treated to the CDQ of one of his catchiest tracks. There's a reason there's so many live videos of him performing this one.

"Absolute in Doubt" (ft. Wicca Phase Springs Eternal)

Lil Peep

As a member of the collective Goth Boi Clique, Peep had a number of frequent collaborators who helped to define his sound. Chief among those collaborators was Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, who made a brilliant partner for Peep with a distinctive drawl that is removed from Peep's more pop-punk inspired vocals. Produced by L.A. producer Foxwedding, "Absolute in Doubt" is one of their finest collaborative moments, drawing a line between their disparate approaches while still allowing both of them to come together without clashing.

"The Way I See Things"

Lil Peep

One of the early standouts from Peep's all-too-brief career, somber 2015 track "The Way I See Things" perfectly displays how well he was able to put his hurt into words. "I got a feelin' that I'm not gonna be here for next year," he opens the song, emphasizing just how much his struggle with depression had an effect on him. Pushed to substances to help cope with his existence, Peep's openness about his pain and emotions is what made him so relatable to his fans.

"Lose My Mind" (ft. Meeting By Chance)

Lil Peep

In 2015, Peep teamed-up with Oklahoma producer Meeting By Chance for an album titled Changes. While Peep didn't turn up on every track on the album, he appeared enough to make a fascinating curiosity for fans. The album is no longer available on Meeting by Chance's Bandcamp page for whatever reason, but thanks to some dedicated fans, Changes lives on.

"Lose My Mind" is one of the many Peep-featuring highlights on the album, standing out in particular thanks to a reserved vocal approach seldom used by Peep throughout his career.

"Five Degrees"

Lil Peep

The second song on this list from his debut mixtape Lil Peep Part One, "Five Degrees" is remarkable, and not just because it samples a Thirty Seconds to Mars song without sounding terrible. Exemplifying how his output was often at its best when he kept it simple, the Haardtek-produced track only has one verse, but it also creates an incredible atmosphere.

"California World" (ft. Craig Xen)

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Nedarb Nagrom provided Peep with some of his most striking beats, perhaps most famously with his breakthrough track "White Wine." Another track together, "California World," is easily one of their finest moments together. Taken from their underlooked California Girls collaborative EP, the Craig Xen-featuring "California World" is backed by a ghostly Tim Hecker sample that does a lot of the heavy lifting. Peep's low-key hook, however, makes the track. 

"OMFG"

Lil Peep

Hellboy was Lil Peep's breakthrough project, polishing his distinctive blend of emo and rap to the point those outside of the internet's underground simply had to take notice. With some audacious samples, Hellboy saw Peep refining his approach to something fans of both outsider rap and emo could really enjoy, elevating him beyond an internet oddity.

"OMFG" isn't be the project's biggest track, but it features one of the most stark opening lines of his whole discography, sung over a sample from The Microphones' sacred album The Glow Pt. 2. The opening, "I used to wanna kill myself," is far more direct than anything on The Glow Pt. 2 lyrically, but it matches the mood of the indie-emo masterpiece beautifully.

"Kiss"

Lil Peep via Instagram

Arriving not too long after the release of his breakthrough project Hellboy, "Kiss" was one of the first times Peep sounded genuinely ready for his imminent success. Considerably more polished, although no less gruff and charming, "Kiss" acted as a tantalizing prelude to Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1. Produced by Smokeasac, who would go on to define the sound of Peep's official debut album, "Kiss" is essentially a rap-rock song, but delivered in Peep's inimitable style.

"Let Me Bleed"

lil peep

From a song structure point of view, "Let Me Bleed" is a mess. The Nedarb-produced California Girls track doesn't even feature a single verse, just one chorus repeated three times, and a bridge either side of the middle of the song. However, that has little to no bearing on the song itself, because it's almost physically painful listening back to it now Peep has passed away. "I just wanna die by my momma side/Tell her that I love her while my brother cry," he sings on the bridge, only for his mother, tragically, to read his eulogy less than two years later.

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