From Beyond

During an artist’s lifetime, their music can impact millions of fans, and record labels profit immensely. But what happens when an artist dies, and a treasure trove of demos is left behind?

It has been said that the beauty of music lies in its immortality. The expression that embodies an artist’s interaction with the world lives on long past the artist themselves. But what happens when an artist does not live to cultivate their vision, and instead leaves behind fragments of a puzzle? An untimely death raises the question of not only how to put those puzzle pieces together, but whether to even try. With the tragic deaths of musicians Lil Peep, Mac Miller and Juice WRLD all occurring within the last three years, and the recent announcement that Juice WRLD has over 2000 unreleased songs, this query is at the center of debate for music fans everywhere.

There is one word that is constantly at the forefront of this dialogue: legacy. Exploiting the work an artist leaves behind is not only disingenuous to their intentions, but many view it as a stain on the legacy which their life and professional career amounted to. After the deaths of both Lil Peep and XXXTentacion, a song titled “Falling Down” was released, presented as a collaboration between the two artists, and included audio of XXXTentacion talking about the late Lil Peep. However, fans pointed out that Lil Peep never intended to work with XXXTentacion, and friends say that he explicitly disapproved of the artist because of his domestic abuse allegations.

Fans of XXXTentacion had plenty of objections of their own regarding his posthumous releases. To fulfill the $10 million recording contract he had signed just weeks before his murder in the summer of 2018, his estate has released two albums since his death. These releases, accompanied by merchandise releases and paid album listening parties, appeared to many as cash-grabs rather than genuine attempts to honor the late artist’s memory. Christian Rivera, a Paly student and fan of XXXTentacion, is not satisfied with the way that his memory is being treated. “I do appreciate that the music is here, but the way it’s being put out and being handled… I know it’s not him,” Rivera said.

Despite the controversies, many fans appreciate getting more material to remember their favorite artists by. Additionally, legal obligations can make inaction impossible. Assuming the music must be released, how should the process be approached? Mac Miller’s new album has been acknowledged by critics and fans alike as a prime example of how to honor an artist who has passed. When Mac Miller died in September 2018, he had just released the confessional album “Swimming”, detailing his fragile mental state in the aftermath of his breakup with Ariana Grande. His primary collaborator, musician Jon Brion, didn’t touch the tracks he and Miller recorded for a planned follow up album, “Circles”, for three months after Miller passed. When Brion finally listened to the demos, he decided to resume work on the album. Once he got permission from Miller’s family, Brion obtained pre-existing tracks from his archive as well as the family and started working on them. He recalled discussions about the album he had with Miller, who used words like “wider” and “deeper” to describe the sonics of these songs. It definitely helped that Miller had already come up with the album’s theme and title, and many of the vocal and musical takes were done; still it was left to Brion to complete the job. Using tracks from Brion’s collaborators, the album was released sixteen months after Miller’s death. It immediately received high praise from critics, who praised Brion’s work as a fitting conclusion to Miller’s introspective final thoughts. As much of the instrumentation is arranged live, the album is also praised for its openness and diversification of Miller’s sound.

The future of posthumous music is uncertain, with backlash and major success thus far. However, fans and friends alike will continue to hold accountable those who exploit the memory of an artist and appreciate those who live to honor incredible and creative minds lost too soon.