Lil Peep's older brother is opening up about the death of the late rapper at just 21 years old.
Lil Peep's older brother is opening up about the death of the late rapper at just 21 years old.
Karl Ahr, who goes by Oskar, recently talked to People about the tragic death of Lil Peep, who died of a suspected Xanax overdose, according to Tuscon, Arizona, police. Despite a few of the rapper's heartbreaking social media posts in the days and hours leading up to his death -- which bluntly allude to drug use and feelings of depression -- Oskar says the suspected overdose was an "accident."
“It was an accident, it really was an accident,” Oskar, 23, says. “He was super happy with where he was in life.”
“We [the family] have heard there was some sort of substance he did not expect to be involved in the substance he was taking," he continues. “He thought he could take what he did, but he had been given something and he didn’t realize what it was.”
Oskar says his brother's personal struggles reflected in the lyrics of his music were exaggerated to fit a certain image.
“It makes me laugh to think about the days we watched WWE together but [Peep] mentioned how being a hip-hop artist is like being a pro-wrestling character. You have to be an actor,” Oskar explains. “He gets paid to be sad. It’s what he made his name on. It’s what his image was in a sense.”
“He was not as sad as people think he was," he adds. "It’s frustrating as someone who remembers a happy brother.”
Oskar also blames Lil Peep's drug use on the culture of the music industry.
“I can guarantee [drugs are] not something that would’ve been a part of his life if he was not a part of that specific culture," Oskar muses. "Not only was he a part of it, he’ll be remembered for making waves in it.”
“My brother didn’t take five Xanax pills every day, but he would take them and then post on Instagram about it,” he continues. “I wish it would have paid for him to be a little safer, but the world needed him to have superlative problems that he dealt with in superlative ways."
Oskar tells the magazine he hopes his late brother's drug use will not overshadow his legacy as a determined and loyal person, who was extremely close to their mother.
“I hope there is some focus on drugs like Xanax and pills, in general, and the potential for them being laced, but I hope it isn’t too much associated with how people remember him," Oskar says.
For more on Lil Peep's tragic death, watch below:
