There are so many “What-ifs” in the world whether it’s in sports, politics, or culture. This rings especially true for music. There are a lot of musicians that have been lost too young, especially recently. Three weeks ago, Takeoff—a member of the rap trio Migos—was shot and killed in Houston. He was 28 years old, which just adds to the count of artists who passed away at too young of an age. It’s sickening to see this time after time, and I hope everyone can put a stop to this. A few of the artists we’ve lost are ones that I enjoy immensely, and I can’t imagine what I’d say to them if we could talk.

XXXTentacion—Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy—was an emotional rapper, singing about sensitive topics like the shooting in Parkland, Florida. Arguably his most famous song, titled Look At Me, was not about a touchy subject and was just an aggressive, in-your-face song—the common courtesy from a rapper. The music video for this song takes a haunting turn in the middle as it switches to a different song—Riot—which depicts many historic and unjust killings. Most likely, X did this because of the popularity of Look At Me and wanted viewers to pay attention to a song with a serious message. He was killed in a robbery at a motorsports shop on June 18, 2018. It was believed to be a targeted attack.

Bashar Barakah Jackson—better known as Pop Smoke—did not touch on sensitive topics as X did. His attention-getter was his low, gravelly voice. Songs like Dior and For The Night are among Pop’s best songs, both of which are mainstays on my Spotify playlists. A voice like his is tough to ignore. On Feb. 19, 2020, Pop Smoke was killed in an Airbnb in Hollywood Hills, California. This too was a targeted attack, this one over a diamond-studded Rolex watch that Pop owned. Pop Smoke’s life ended in a terrible way, and that’s just another addition to the list of musicians who died young.

This man was not murdered, but it’s impossible for me to talk about artists who died young without talking about Jarad Higgins. Juice WRLD was—and still is—one of my favorite rappers of all time. Tracks such as Lucid Dreams and Armed and Dangerous led to Juice’s takeoff and success. He would often rap about his drug problem and his need to take said substances turned out to be a big issue. On Dec. 8, 2019, Juice WRLD had a drug-induced seizure after his airplane landed in Chicago. The cause of death was an overdose, meaning nobody is to blame for Juice’s death except himself. There’s a bright side to Juice’s death, though. He left us with over 3,000 unreleased songs, making sure that he can still leave his mark for years to come. 

It’s terrible to see these musicians leave us before they’re ready, especially when it seems that there’s so much still for them to do in this world. These artists all left their marks in different ways, and I hope they’re not forgotten. They all touched so many hearts. It’s crazy how one can save millions, but millions can’t save one.