Review Summary: An atypical EP, as Lil Peep’s first officially released project with SchemaPosse, that comes out more a mixed bag than anything definitive.
When Lil Peep first joined SchemaPosse, he was practically a noname. His only songs that were actually circulating around at the time were “Star Shopping” and “Praying to the Sky,” mostly through some underground emo DIY circles, which is where I found him initially, and there were only less than a thousand plays on his collaborative mixtapes released beforehand. So to say the least, he hadn’t really found his place in this time period, as
LiL PEEP: Part One had been recorded before he joined Schemaposse, but wasn’t officially released until he became a member. Other, mostly Memphis-inspired members, including Ghostemane and JGRXXN, were generating way more noise at the time for the group, leaving Peep more so in the background. So Lil Peep’s first project recorded as a member of Schemaposse,
Feelz is by no means a horrible project, but because of these circumstances, it comes off as an awkward and incohesive one in hindsight.
But to somewhat contradict that, there’s almost nothing actually wrong with most of the production here, other than it being a bit tepid on “Life,” but the great production is predominantly because of two of these beats were produced by TeamSESH’s own drip-133. Plus, “Life” isn’t even that bad of a song at all, it’s just the minimalism of the beat can be a turn-off for some, and the same consistent rhyme scheme wears on after repeated listens, but closes off with some of Peep’s best lyrics on the project. The other drip-133 produced song, opener “Toxic City,” is also a solid track, besides the lyrically uninspired verse — but the chorus, flows, and atmosphere that the track holds are absolutely the highlight of this project in every aspect. Though, the title track “Feelz,” is by far the worst solo song Peep had ever put out (at least during this time period). This is mainly due to the crammed, mostly spoken vocal melodies, paired with the juxtaposingly hedonistic lyrics, and a smooth, silky beat from producer Terio that sounds like it could be from an 80’s R&B song to top it off. But factoring all of these random nuts and bolts together, makes every aspect all so uncomplimentary to each other, that it genuinely comes off as an absolute mess of a track.
So while
Feelz wasn’t the best project Peep ever released, it definitely gives perspective on how he was trying to find his sound early on, along with what stuck and what didn’t. “Toxic City” is a great opener, and “Life” is a decent closer, but since there’s only 3 tracks here, with having such an awkwardly executed and out of place song like the title track in the middle, really does drag the project down, at least from an enjoyability perspective. The drip-133 produced songs are easily the highlights, and Lil Peep definitely has some lyrical moments that shine here a lot more than some of his later writings, making
Feelz a decent introduction to the underground for Peep, but far from the quality of what would he would later go on to do with some of his later projects’ experimentation.
2.75/5
”they’ll kill your brother and tell you he’s a criminal, and they’ll fuckin’ kill you too, so you better not get physical / welcome to America, that type of shit is typical / isn’t life beautiful? i think that life is beautiful” - “life”
”so it seems every time that i die, i wake up / when it’s time to meet my maker, i’ll be ready for ‘em” - “Toxic City”
