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.
His still-available projects include 2017’s More Xelly, a 105-song tape, and most of the 10-part Lucky Charms series he released with Chicago producer BrentRambo over the subsequent year. In 2022 Xelly indicated that he wanted to slow down and be “more cautious” with his drops, but it didn’t last: In 2024 alone, Xelly dropped eight full-length mixtapes.
Maintaining that rate of release required making true-hearted, free flowing collaboration: a central tenet of his craft. And Xelly’s discography brought together dozens of producers from all corners of the rap world, many of whom were in the process of changing it. Xelly helped steer the woozy sound of plugg alongside pioneers like CashCache!, StoopidXool, Dylvinci, and MexikoDro. Danny Wolf, Maaly Raw, and Working On Dying brought Xelly their styles as they flirted with popular success. Even underground staples like Tony Seltzer and Brodinski found their way into Xelly’s fold.
One shouldn’t confuse his wide-ranging taste in beats for a lack of identity. Despite the onslaught of new music and the variety of instrumental styles, Xelly remained a consistent lyricist, more than keeping pace with his unyielding release schedule. His songs are littered with witty punchlines, vivid detail, and a wide variety of flows. After 1,000-plus songs, repetition is inevitable, but Xelly had the energy of an artist in touch with his source. “People want to make songs with other people,” Xelly told The FADER in 2019. “I just want to make a song myself. I just want to eat myself on the track, that’s what separates me from everyone else.”
Any fan of underground rap over the past eight years who turns on Xelly’s catalog will be transported to a specific time and place in their lives at least once. And while nostalgia is a prison, some things transcend time, like a body of work that feels like both a comprehensive document of the underground and a community. Below, revisit five songs that represent Lil Xelly at his best and most diverse.
“Great White”
Xelly’s collaborations with Soudiere, a Parisian producer creating gently melodic beats with the ghostly tinge of ‘90s Memphis, are high water marks in the careers of both artists. Their tapes Xrrtified Posse and Xrrtified Posse 2 crackle with a synchronicity that peaks and arcs all over “Great White,” a song where Xelly’s trademark dim-lidded flow gets more urgent as the song progresses.
“GroundWerk”
Xelly was a natural fit for the glittering sound of plugg, its R&B-inspired melodies sending his dreamy bars into the stratosphere. His collaboration here with GRIMM Doza is just one example of how easily Xelly could float.
“Awful”
Released during Xelly’s 2017 spree, “Awful” would become one of Xelly’s most beloved tracks. Xelly lets his drill influence hang in the “Hang Wit Me”-indebted flow, but the bejeweled Candyland melodies around it make the bluster feel almost fraternal.
“XRR!”
Xelly knew how to get hype, too. “XRR” is named for the adlib that would become ubiquitous in Xelly’s world, sprinkled across the titles of tapes and songs. BrentRambo’s beat is a trap laser show, its booming low-end teasing out the gravel in Xelly’s voice as he growls out his flexes.
