Image via Lil Xan
On April 6, Lil Xan dropped his debut album, Total Xanarchy. The project is the culmination of a quick rise for the Redlands, California-born rapper best known for his song "Betrayed." Buzz is growing each day for the 21-year-old; here's what you should know about him.
He Dropped Out of High School
"I failed every class up until I dropped out freshman year," Xan said on No Jumper's "Exposed" series. "I just could not sit down for seven hours a day and listen to a teacher 'just talk about s**t I ain't never gon' need."
But He Hadn't Planned on Becoming a Rapper
Xan was into photography. "Camera got stolen," he said on "Exposed." "So I started rapping." You'll still catch Xan posting the occasional Polaroid shot, though.
His Name Means What You Think It Does
He was, he's noted, doing a lot of Xanax back in the day. "I always wondered what the longevity of the name Lil Xan would be," he told Complex's Pigeons & Planes. These days, though, he'll answer to Lil Xan or Diego. "But by the second album," he said on No Jumper, "straight call me Diego."
He Started Abusing Xanax at 18
The rapper denounces the drug now, but at 18, he got into it. "A friend just gave me a Xanax," he told Hot 97. "I went to Benihana's. I woke up on the Benihana's table."
He Has a History of Anxiety
It began in April 2014, he told Hot 97. "It came out of nowhere. I was a perfectly fine kid, and then one day it just hit me. I think it was, like, a breakup or something." He was prescribed Ativan.
Music Inspired Him to Quit Xanax
As his career built momentum, with videos for songs like "Slingshot" and "Betrayed" quickly amassing millions of views, Xan realized he needed to curb his drug use. "I really started to think, 'If I'm gonna be living this life...I can't be doing that. Because this life is crazy, and I'll stop working. I can't be high and all that,''' he told Hot 97. "I just realized for my own sake, and for the people around me, I had to get off."
He Calls 'Xanarchy' an Anti-Xan Movement
"Xanarchy is its own thing," the rapper told Pigeons & Planes. "The brand is exploding onto the scene." Right now, gear bearing the Xanarchy name sells out quickly. "The brand is unstoppable at this point, and I'm just glad I've created something so positive and people can relate to it."
His Musical Inspirations
Xan counts Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not as his favorite album. The artists who inspire him most? Mac Miller and Drake. "Just along the lines of those," he told Billboard. "I bet you those, like, surprise people."
He Says He Respects 2Pac
In a February interview with Revolt, Lil Xan called 2Pac's music "boring." The backlash was immediate, with rappers including Waka Flocka, T.I., and Rich Homie Quan calling him out. He also reportedly needed police to escort him through a throng of angry Pac fans in his hometown. As he later told his own fans, though, "The media twisted my words. I think 2Pac is a legend...they want you to hate me." Xan also played "California Love" during a show in March.
He's Got a Heavy List of Collabs
Tracks with YG, Rae Sremmurd, and 2 Chainz appear on Total Xanarchy. He also told No Jumper that he did a song with Wiz Khalifa.
He Took Lil Peep's Death Hard
Xan has said that Peep—who died of an overdose of fentanyl and generic Xanax in November—was one of his favorite artists. "After that tragic passing, it definitely got more real," Xan told Pigeons & Planes a month after it happened. "It was something I knew I had to help change...I'm not saying it was the turning point for me deciding to be anti-Xan—I was anti-Xan months ago—but it was definitely a reminder that this s**t is real."
He Won't Go to Your Prom
As you can imagine, Lil Xan's DMs are popping. His manager's email also appears in his bio. "He gets the craziest emails—like, "Can I book Xan to take me to prom?'' he told No Jumper. He may not have made it to his own graduation, but he's not trying to go to yours, either.
He Calls His Album an Evolution
Total Xanarchy is "an upgrade to everything I've ever done," Xan told Pigeons & Planes. "It's a big evolution of Lil Xan's music, as funny as that sounds. There's more maturity, and you can expect more Bobby Johnson production on it. But all I can say is it's better than anything I've put out in the past. It's just like, I leveled up on everything." Total Xanarchy is available on Apple Music and Spotify.