Nine years ago today, Gus released Hellboy. He made it during the summer and fall of 2016 while living between Skid Row and Echo Park in Los Angeles. Just nineteen years old at the time, Gus created a gritty, raw, and intensely personal body of work that many consider his breakthrough mixtape. He was under heavy pressure, and the small circle of producers he worked with gave him the beats that became his outlet for expressing what he was going through. At the end of July 2016, Gus and a handful of friends moved into a large open space in the heart of Skid Row known as The Loft. After nearly two months of couch surfing with his belongings in a backpack, he was thrilled to finally have what he saw as his dream place, a workshop full of like minded creatives he had been collaborating with. On July 31, just days after moving in, Gus created “gucci mane” on a Charlie Shuffler beat. Three days later, he and Nedarb made “OMFG,” recorded in typical Loft fashion, with Gus screaming spontaneously into his mic in a room full of people. Chaotic as the environment could be, he loved it, and in that space made six of the sixteen tracks that would appear on Hellboy with a tight knit group of producers. During his short stay at The Loft, Gus was already fielding record deal offers. The pressure weighed heavily on him and began exploding out in his performances as he started belting his lyrics with raw urgency. On August 11, he signed a deal, and by the end of the month had moved to a small Echo Park apartment. With the advance money, he indulged in clothes, including the Gucci shoes he would later reference on “interlude,” but quickly began questioning his new lifestyle. The apartment felt too small, the money ran out fast, and his growing sorrow and hopelessness seeped into his music. In just over two weeks that September, he wrote and recorded seven more Hellboy songs. During this period, he told his mom he had been locking himself in his closet to cry. Hellboy stands as proof of Gus’s ability to channel emotion into art, creating music that was both cathartic for him and deeply resonant for listeners. It also opened doors to new opportunities, as the “girls” video put him on his first big budget set with professionals. With Hellboy, Gus broke through both musical and social boundaries while giving voice to the feelings so many young people share, letting them know they are not alone. Nine years later, the mixtape still does exactly that. - @lilpeep