In the hours following 21-year-old Lil Peep's death from a suspected overdose Wednesday night, Post Malone was among the artists to share their condolences. "In the short time that i knew you, you were a great friend to me and a great person. your music changed the world and it'll never be the same. i love you bud. forever," he wrote alongside a photo of himself and Peep. In an interview on the H3 podcast, the rapper has shared further thoughts on Peep's musical importance, as well as his problems with the way drug users were "shamed" in response.
"I fucking love that kid, it sucks ass... he was the fucking shit," said Post. "I only knew him for a little bit. But more than [the] genuine good real true person that he was, his music was going to change the culture of everything. Already shifting culture in such a short period of time. He's an incredible, talented dude and good guy."
Peep's music was a unique hybrid of rap and emo, often sampling bands like Brand New, The Microphones, and Mineral. His lyrics dealt with depression and the use of drugs as coping mechanisms. When it was reported that Peep may have died from an overdose, a conversation began about the "glorification" of drugs in music, which Post felt was unfair.
"Here's my whole issue," he said. "I think it's fucked up that he literally had just passed, and all the people on the internet were like, 'here kids this is an example: stop fucking glorifying drugs in hip-hop.' It's not like anybody asked to A: get hooked on shit, and B: have issues within yourself that something makes you feel better and you can't help it. This dude just died and everybody takes it as a prime opportunity to shame people who may have issues with drugs, instead of supporting them."
Wiz Khalifa recently shared some thoughts on drug use following Peep's death in an interview with Complex. The comment came after the rapper shared a post on Instagram that said "Lean is lame." "I just feel like somebody has to speak up for people who don't believe in that, or are really tired of seeing it," he said. "It's unfortunate that Lil Peep had to die and stuff like that, but these are the things people are gonna start seeing and keep happening if they don't really relax and fall back. I just want to be the responsible person and say something.”
Watch Post Malone's full 2-hour-plus conversation with H3 below.