“Falling Down”: A Posthumous Success Story

By BECK KENDIG ‘20

Last Sunday, I walked over to the library, got myself a nice third-floor cubby desk, and prepared for a marathon of work. Habitually, I opened up Spotify to put on my “study” playlist. After about three VHL activities, I found myself bored of my usual music. The search for something new led me to a song that had been released a few days prior. Titled “Falling Down”, this song sat at the top of the Global 50 Chart. Naturally I saw the names of the artists, but it took a couple of seconds for me to remember that both Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION, the artists in this song, are deceased.

The new-age emo rapper and singer known as Lil Peep has been dead for almost a year following a fatal Fentanyl-Xanax overdose. After his passing, a host of his priorly unreleased music was gradually made public. Before “Falling down”, Lil Peep’s most recent posthumous release occurring on May 13, 2018 with the drop of “4 Gold Chains”. XXXTENTACION, often referred to as X, died recently in a drive-by shooting. As seen in thewrap.com, following the tragic event, his song “Sad!” jumped to the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. According to Billboard Magazine, this feat has only been achieved once before by the iconic 90’s rapper The Notorious B.I.G. Similarly to Lil Peep, X had several releases following his death, including “Ghost Busters” and “Tear Drop”.

Although posthumous song releases are not uncommon, this song carries a special significance. For starters, the difference in popularity between, say, “4 Gold Chains” and “Falling Down”  is incredible. Since May 13, “4 Gold Chains” has accumulated 4.6 million listens on SoundCloud. When comparing this statistic to the 12 million listens of “Falling Down” in the past week, we can see that this song is obviously unique. One may argue that the success of “Falling Down” is the result of featuring X, who was at the height of his career before his death. This explanation, however, overlooks the fact that none of X’s other posthumous songs have reached the same level of recognition. I believe the success of “Falling Down” comes from the combined reputation of its artists. During their careers, both Lil Peep and X incorporated themes of depression, sorrow, and drug use in their music. Although the latter is a fairly common subject for modern rappers, Peep and X were pioneers in this new sub-genre of emo hip-hop. By combining the work of these two artists with their trademark tone of melancholy, “Falling Down” symbolizes the pair’s unique style. In other words, this song acts as a monument for the legacy of Peep and X. When we think of the song as a memorial to these two genre-changing artists, it comes as no surprise that “Falling Down” has reached such popularity.

In addition to the commemoration aspect of “Falling Down,” the lyrics hold another type of specialty. A few days after the song’s release, another posthumous song dropped called “Sunlight on Your Skin”. This song, a single by Lil Peep without any features, is the original form of “Falling Down.” X’s verses were added after Lil Peep’s death but before his own. A direct, plainly spoken quote stands out amongst X’s additions. During these lines, X shares his regret about not having recognized the similarities between himself and Lil Peep. He ends his quote by reflecting on how “It's unfortunate because it's like, yo, when people die, that's when we like 'em, you know?” Not only do X’s words further the connection between Lil Peep and himself, they also relay a somber irony. The outcome of a musician’s passing that X describes foreshadows his own future; “Sad!” only went #1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart after X’s death.