R.I.P. Lil Xelly, a towering figure in a bygone era of underground rap

thefader.com:

Flooding the internet with music is a risk. Dropping multiple projects before anyone but your most dedicated listeners has time to process them implies that you’re a force to be reckoned with; but even if you prove yourself to be undeniable (not just unavoidable), will the volume of music build momentum, or become an immovable monolith, buried deep beneath the surface?

Lil Xelly, the 24-year-old Maryland rapper who was tragically killed last week in Rockville, never seemed to regret his decision to be one of the most prolific rappers of the SoundCloud era.

Since he began releasing music in 2016, his output has come at a furious pace — Genius has nearly 100 tapes logged — though many of them have vanished from the internet.

While he remained a cult figure up until his untimely death, the rap industry is changed by his life even if it's imperceptible to most, like when the Earth tilts slightly on its axis after an earthquake somewhere deep underwater..