LIL XAN Everything’s a canvas. Jordan Page
A year ago, Diego Leanos was onstage at a concert taking photos of SoundCloud rapper $teven Cannon when his camera was stolen. After the theft, he decided to take up rapping, because studio time was cheaper than buying a new camera.
Now known as Lil Xan, the 21-year-old former Xanax dealer is the newest face of the “sad rap” movement. Sadness itself isn’t a new theme in hip-hop—just look at Tupac’s music—but the wave of rappers led by Lil Uzi Vert and the late Lil Peep (who recently died of an overdose) share a connection to another genre: emo. In a recent Noisey Raps profile, Leanos calls his hometown of Redlands, California, “Deadlands” with the contempt of a disaffected suburban youth.
