![]() ![]() Homemade footage is posted and, although I enjoy it, I can’t help but think I’m snooping. A sea of unofficial documentaries crop up over time. There’s a weird market that emerges after an artist’s death. The success of Juice WRLD, Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION’s posthumous releases show that not only is the hype still alive and well, but also that there’s money to be made, usually off of their likeness in bootleg merchandise made on Redbubble by those trying to make a quick buck. XXXTENTACION, one of the most controversial rappers of the 2010s, had his first posthumous album Skins reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart, according to The New York Times. Because of this, I usually avoid Lil Peep’s posthumous releases (although I would love to be able to enjoy his new music without feeling like bawling my eyes out).īesides being qualitatively good, posthumous releases can also be very successful on the charts. “Life Is Beautiful” is enough to bring me to tears and make me reflect on my entire life. The sarcastic refrain lies between the negative situations, “Isn’t life beautiful? I think that life is beautiful.” It’s a remix of an earlier song, “life ✞.” But it’s also about important moments, such as getting out of bed in the morning and thinking deeply about life - the good parts that accompany the bad. Lil Peep’s melancholic “Life is Beautiful,” which was released after his death, is a narrative about life’s struggles, such as death, rejection and illness. Most people’s intentions are to contribute to the legacy of the artist positively, but the biggest piece of the puzzle is missing: the artist themselves.ĭespite that missing piece, the music still has the potential for greatness. An artist’s work is released usually without their consent through the people close to them, acting as a messenger between them and the world. In fact, they often give fans a sense of community around an artist they love and excite them over new music again, a rare feeling once an artist has passed away.įans rally together to get songs past a certain number of streams and support an artist’s estate by buying new releases and merchandise.īut when an artist dies and their family and friends continue their career, it often feels strange. ![]() There’s nothing inherently wrong with posthumous releases. But at the same time, as with every posthumous release from an artist, I ask myself: Is this what they would have wanted? Wasn’t it in their vault for a reason? Hearing the funk rock beat under Prince’s voice is refreshing in a way, knowing there was so much more to hear from the iconic musician whose career spanned generations. It was likely recorded in 20, and it’s finally coming out of Prince’s vault after his death in 2016. The album will be released this July, according to PAPER Magazine. But now, fans can hear the genre-bending artist on “Welcome 2 America” - the title track from his upcoming album of the same name - which centers on technology and politics. It will never feel normal to hear his voice in a new context after he’d died. It’s weird to listen to a new Prince song in 2021.
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