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The music industry is mourning the death of up-and-coming rapper Lil Peep at age 21.
News broke his death on Thursday, when his manager Chase Ortega wrote a chilling message on Twitter, according to Billboard: “I’ve been expecting this call for a year. Mother f—.”
Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, a company that worked with Lil Peep over the last year, confirmed his death in a statement on Facebook.
“I am shocked and heartbroken. I do not believe Peep wanted to die. He had big goals and dreams for the future which he had shared with me, his team, his family and his friends,” Stennett wrote. “He was highly intelligent, hugely creative, massively charismatic, gentle and charming. He had huge ambition and his career was flourishing.”
Stennett added that she spoke with Lil Peep’s mother, who wanted to convey how proud she was of her son, who was born Gustav Åhr, and his accomplishments.
“She is very, very proud of him and everything he was able to achieve in his short life,” the statement read. “She is truly grateful to the fans and the people who have supported and loved him.”
The Long Beach, New York, native’s publicist also confirmed his death in an email to Pitchfork but did not give a cause of death. His U.K. representative confirmed the news to The Guardian, which reports music manager Adam Grandmaison said the musician was taken to the hospital following an overdose.
The musician had already made a name for himself online. He had one million followers on Instagram and numerous followers on his YouTube page — his video for his song “Awful Things” has over 11 million views.
Many believed Lil Peep was about to break out on the mainstream music scene. In a January feature, Pitchfork called the rapper “the future of emo.” Rolling Stonedescribed him as a “mixed guitar-driven emo and rap production on mixtapes that gained millions of plays on SoundCloud.”
His debut album, Come Over When You’re Sober, hit stores on Sept. 1. The final song he released, “Avoid,” appeared on Soundcloud last month.
Lil Peep was well-known for lyrics that openly addressed his use of drugs, specifically pills.
“I suffer from depression and some days I wake up and I’m like, ‘F—, I wish I didn’t wake up,’” he told Pitchfork in the interview published in January. “I don’t express that side of myself on social media. That’s the side of myself that I express through music. That’s my channel for letting all that s— out.”
In a video posted on his Instagram on Tuesday night promoting his show in El Paso, Texas, the rapper said he had “six Xanax, and now it’s lit.”
He continued, “I’m good, I’m not sick. I’mma see you all tonight.”
In a video from earlier this month, Lil Peep tells his followers that he popped “perc 10s,” slang for highly addictive prescription painkiller Percocet.
He also had “Get Cake Die Young” tattooed along his hairline, and his Instagram bio read, “musician/supermodel/toyboy //ugly, cute and dying.”
Lil Peep was once linked to actress Bella Thorne, who took to Twitter upon learning of his death.
“F— I don’t know what to say,” she wrote. “Peep you deserved more out of life. Life didn’t do your greatness justice.”
Thorne also shared two videos to Instagram stories, emotionally reacting to Peep’s death. “I just wanted to say anybody out there who is a Lil Peep fan, you guys know how talented he was, you guys know how great he was,” she said. “Well, he was even more f—ing great as a person.”
Others in the music industry, including Pete Wentz and Travis Barker, also mourned the loss.
“Peep had so much more to do man he was constantly inspiring me,” wrote Diplo. “I dont feel good man.”
Sam Smith added, “Seeing the news of Lil Peep is so desperately sad.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.
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