“Falling Down” by Lil Peep and XXXTentacion

“Falling Down” is a posthumous collaboration between the late American rappers Lil Peep and XXXTentacion. This track is a new version of the track “Sunlight on Your Skin”. “Sunlight on Your Skin” was recorded by Lil Peep and American rapper/singer iLoveMakonnen in London shortly before the former’s death in 2017.

Speaking with XXL, iLoveMakonnen said the song’s chorus is basically about the rain. According to him, the song was born while he and Peep were working on an album in London. He said while in the British capital, his manager called him and asked what he was doing. He responded by telling him it was raining and they were doing nothing. It was at that time, the manager told him to “write a song about the rain”. He relayed the information to Peep, who jumped at the idea. That’s how the famous hook for the song was born.

Here are the exact words that iLoveMakonnen told XXL regarding the birth of this track:

The new version of “Sunlight on Your Skin” (“Falling Down”), sees iLoveMakonnen’s vocals completely being replaced by X’s. X recorded his part after Peep’s death. In his part, X talks about the remorse he felt over Peep’s death and wishing he had known him while he was alive. He also talks about how he never knew Peep “was so cool” and how he and Peep “were so alike”.

Controversy surrounding the track

“Falling Down” caused a lot of controversy shortly after its release. The controversy stemmed from the belief that both artists didn’t like each other while they were alive. Peep reportedly didn’t like X because he was notorious for abusing women. X also had a number of reasons why he didn’t like Lil Peep. Owing to this, fans of Lil Peep were outraged when they heard that after Lil Peep’s death, there was going to be a collaboration between him and his “enemy”. According to most of them, Lil Peep would have strongly disapproved of such collaboration if he were alive today because he strongly disliked X.

However, it has been reported that not long before Lil Peep’s tragic death in 2017, both he and X were trying to end their feud. But is there any proof that both artists were working on resolving their dispute? Well, that’s another topic for another day.

Facts about “Falling Down”

• The song was written by three songwriters: XXXTentacion, Lil Peep and Makonnen Sheran (professionally known as iLoveMakonnen).
• Producer Mike WiLL Made-It handled the song’s production along with other producers, including John Cunningham, IIVI and Fish Narc. Cunningham gained fame for being a longtime producer for XXXTentacion. He produced many of XXXTentacion’s hits such as “Changes“, “Sad“, and “Moonlight“.
• The original version of this track featured the vocals of Lil Peep and iLoveMakonnen. However, after X’s death in June 2018, iLoveMakonnen replaced his vocals with that of X. In so doing, he officially made it a collaboration between X and Lil Peep. Liza Womack, mother of Lil Peep, later stated that she had no say in deciding to put X’s vocals on her late son’s track. According to her, the decision was made solely by iLoveMakonnen.
• “Falling Down” was officially released on September 19, 2018.
• Contrary to popular belief, the song’s chorus isn’t sung only by Lil Peep. If you listen carefully to the chorus, you’d hear X’s voice in it. For example, the voice saying “O-o-oh” in the chorus is X’s.
• The song’s intro is performed by both Peep and X. So is the chorus. However, the song’s verse, interlude and bridge are handled solely by X.

Prior to “Falling Down”, had the two deceased artists ever collaborated?

No. “Falling Down” marks the first collaboration between both artists.

Which album can “Falling Down” be found on?

It currently is a non-album single. However, it is likely that it would appear on any of the future posthumous albums of either X or Lil Peep. Heck, it can even appear on both.

How did Lil Peep and XXXTentacion die?

Both XXXTentacion and Lil Peep died untimely deaths. XXXTentacion (whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy) died at the age of 20. On June 18, 2018, he was fatally shot in a robbery incident in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

Lil Peep, on the other hand, died at the age of 21. On November 15, 2017, Lil Peep (whose real name was Gustav Elijah Åhr) was found dead on his tour bus in Tucson, Arizona from a drug overdose. Many suspect the overdose was accidental.

What has iLoveMakonnen so far said regarding the controversy of the collaboration?

In his interview with XXL, he strongly supported the collaboration. According to him, if Lil Peep were alive, he would be very open to the collaboration.