For all the boasting, partying, good times, and fraternizing, hip hop is a source of happiness. That is, until things get real. Unfortunately, hip hop has become an inevitable graveyard of broken dreams as its superiorly gifted savants are silenced by tragic circumstances. All that fans are left with are their posthumous music projects.
KING VON
This week, the late King Von and Juice WRLD are among the fallen stars who died too young and have new music out. King Von links with 21 Savage for his single “Don’t Play That,” an upbeat, fast-paced contribution set against a quirky, yet catchy beat by producer Kid Hazel. Distributed by the Only The Family Entertainment and EMPIRE, “Don’t Play That” is the first official King Von single released on YouTube since “Demon” from his 2020 debut album Welcome to O’Block and the first official King Von single of 2022 — last year, the Chicago rapper had the music insertions “Lurkin,” a remix with Polo G, and “JUMP” with Lil Durk, Booka600, and Memo600. The single proceeds his forthcoming full-length album What It Means to Be King, releasing March 4.
JUICE WRLD
Another rapper resting in peace, Juice WRLD, pulls at our emotional heartstrings with posthumous retrospective music videos, “Already Dead,” “Go Hard 2.0,” and “Cigarettes.” The videos for “Already Dead” and “Go Hard 2.0” are directed by Steve Cannon and produced by Nolan Riddle and Grade A Films. Coming from the posthumous 19-track album Fighting Demons (Complete Edition), released December 10, 2021, the official videos are delivered in action anime style. “Cigarettes” is a standalone single not featured on the album. Juice WRLD croons about love and addiction as the top 10 YouTube music animation shows a solemn illustration of the Chicago artist going DOLO with a cigarette in hand, surrounded by broken glass.
XXXTENTACION
The week of what would’ve been XXXTentacion’s 24th birthday, his estate dropped a rerelease of his single “Vice City.” Inspired by the popular video game, the song originally released eight years ago in 2014 on SoundCloud, before he became a major music artist. Rereleasing the ChrisKentt produced single is part of an effort made by his estate to place XXXTentacion’s earlier music on streaming platforms. A statement reads:
“It is important to us to continue to honor Jah’s legacy, and in that spirit we are planning an exciting 2022. One of our first initiatives is to get as much of X’s music from his earliest days as an artist up on all DSPs. We have been working diligently to clear as much of it as possible, and we are excited to announce our first release this Friday with “vice city” hitting all streaming services for the first time. We will continue to release music as we clear it, and are making sure we do it in a way that stays true to how X released each song originally.”
DRAKEO THE RULER
Fresh off the unfortunate demise of yet another rapper, the late Drakeo the Ruler is sure to have plenty of unreleased songs waiting in the chambers. While a wrongful death lawsuit against live event organization Live Nation and an ongoing investigation may have his estate occupied, the We Know The Truth artist’s squad is still repping for the young rapper gone too soon. At the start of 2022, Drakeo was featured on the “Cliff Hanger” remix with OTM members Duffy and BluePesos. Long Live The Ruler.
Unfortunately, fans have been missing music from other significant rappers of the culture who have died in recent years, including Fredo Santana, Nipsey Hussle, Mac Miller, and Pop Smoke. The way things are sliding for hip hop, it looks like 2022 will be filled with posthumous music releases, unless something changes. Rest in peace.
