Trippie Redd and mgk are both from Ohio, and both create music that exists somewhere at the intersection of hip-hop and emo. So it figures they’re releasing a joint EP, due out Friday, and that it’s called genre : sadboy. Yesterday, we got the lead single, “lost boys,” and it’s already doing decent numbers on Genius.
Produced by Charlie Handsome and SlimXX, “lost boys” is a single-verse, drum-free dirge built on acoustic guitar and somber keyboard swells. Trippie leads off with the chorus and describes a dark night of the soul.
I guess I lost my life again
It’s just one of those nights again
No one wants their life to end
Drownin’ now in the life of sin
In the opening lines of his lone verse, mgk sings candidly about having suicidal thoughts. In his 2020 Hulu documentary Life in Pink, mgk reveals that he once attempted to take his own life while on the phone with girlfriend Megan Fox.
Bloodshot, blue eyes, I recorded two tonight
One is for all those I love, this one’s for the suicide
Everything is blue inside, everyone at you and I
People won’t say how they feel about you until you die
In the lines that follow, while observing his own life like a moviegoer, mgk takes on more of a rap cadence and alludes to his struggles with substance abuse.
Everything’s cinematic, protagonist catches a bad habit
By the end, he’s a damn addict
Leave him guessin’, make a sequel
Let everyone say that it wasn’t as good as the first
As the verse continues, mgk longs for the old days, before he was “rich and unhappy.” These days, he’s holed up in his mansion, Dracula-style, and brooding over something that happened at Art Basel. Maybe he’s thinking about the time his ex crashed his party? (Shoutout to Genius user @NateMoroch for remembering this 2022 controversy.)
Now I’m alone in a vamp castle
I’m telling myself it’s the last capsule
But why would I even wanna be alive
To see her with someone at Art Basel? So I
In the “lost boys” music video, Trippie and mgk sing to the heavens on a moonlit starry night.
If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 or visit 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
You can read all the lyrics to “lost boys” on Genius now.
