Opium

  

Opium
Studio album by Lil 6
Released	21 October, 2016
Recorded	25 July–September 2016
Studio	Home studio (Seattle, Tahoma) · DRS Productions (New Charleston, Cuba)
Genre	Trap · mumble rap
Length	52:42
Label	O.P. Entertainment · Mirage Music Group
Producer	Trevon Rage (exec.) · Iron Keys (also exec.) · DCC · Tu Dotty · 7Don · Kidnsec · 17Idol · Quitmydayjob · Nardo · Blame It On Jasen
Lil 6 chronology
Lifestyle (2015) Opium (2016) Lil 6 (2018)
Singles from Opium
"Call Me" Released: 19 August, 2016 "Drowning" Released: 30 September, 2016 "Coca In The Trap" Released: 7 October, 2016 "They Know Who I Am" Released: 21 April, 2017

Opium is the debut studio album by Astorian rapper Lil 6. It was released on 21 October, 2016 by O.P. Entertainment and Mirage Music Group. The standard edition consists of 16 tracks and features guest appearances from Sierran rappers Cash Diego, ZuWop and Trevon Rage. Production was executively handled by Trevon Rage, who appears on the song "In The Trap" and was primarily handled by Iron Keys and Quitmydayjob alongside several other record producers, including 17Idol, DCC, Tu Dotty, 7Don and Kidnsec. The album's material was recorded over a two month period from late July to September 2016, and serves as a follow-up to his second mixtape, Lifestyle (2015).

Upon release, Opium would debut at number 31 on the Astorian Sunset 100, with the rapper embarking on tour in promotion from October 2016 to March 2017. The deluxe edition of the album was released on 21 April, 2017, featuring the bonus track "They Know Who I Am" and "Red Roses" featuring Greyy Mein.

Lil 6 would die of a mixed-drug intoxication exactly one month following the release of the album's deluxe edition, with Opium peaking at number 10 on the Sunset 100 afterward.

Background

The album was first teased by Lil 6 on 30 July, 2016, while at a studio in Cuba, during a two-hour-long Telecam Live in which he previewed unreleased music (later revealed to be the songs "Hit" and "One More"). Lil 6 announced the album's title in an Telecam post on 1 August, where he posted a mocking comment a fan had made equating listening to his music to getting high off of heroin. On 15 August, he revealed that he would be headlining a North America and European concert tour in support of the album with fellow rapper Greyy Mein and rap group Y.A.K., and that his "favorite rapper" was executive producing the album, later revealed to be rapper and record producer Trevon Rage on 7 October. On 15 October, five days prior to release, he revealed the official track list for the album.

Release and promotion

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	40/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
WhatMyMusic?
The Huntington Beach Post
Newstar
Sierra Media	4.2/10
Music Box Magazine	2.0/10

Singles

On 18 August, 2016, Lil 6 released "On The Road" as the first promotional single. The album's lead single, "Call Me", was released the following day, on 19 August, 2016, with the song peaking at number 38 on the Astorian Sunset Hot 100 and the Sierran charts at number 52. A music video was released for "Call Me" on 30 August. It was directed by Knox Films and features cameo appearance from the song's producer Iron Keys, as well as a cameo appearance from Yung Uzi Mane. It has amassed over 70 million views as of 2024.

The second single, "Drowning", a collaboration with Sierran rapper Cash Diego, was released on 30 September, 2016, the song peaked at number 43 on the Sunset Hot 100, being a sleeper-hit that would later be certified 7x Platinum in October 2019. A music video was released for "Drowning" on 2 October. Featuring Cash Diego, it has amassed more than 79 million views as of 2024.

"Coca In The Trap", a collaboration with Sierran rapper and producer Trevon Rage, was released for digital download on 7 October, 2016, as the album's third single. The song peaked at number 81 on the Sunset Hot 100. The song "By My Lonely Part 2" was released as a promotional single prior to the album's release date on 19 October. A music video for "Coca In The Trap" was released on 21 October to coincide with the album's release date. It features Rage and other rappers 17 Cliipper the Red God, and has amassed over 100 million views as of 2024.

The deluxe edition of the album was released on 21 April, 2017, alongside the fourth single, "They Know Who I Am". The song peaked at number 9 on the Sunset Rap chart. A music video for "Red Roses" featuring Greyy Mein would be released on 12 May, 2017, being filmed while on tour in Superior, and less than a week prior to his death. Being the last music video released by the rapper, it has amassed over 190 million views as of September 2024.

Commercial performance

In Astoria, Opium debuted at number 31 on the Sunset 100 chart, earning 26,000 album-equivalent units, with 2,000 coming from pure album sales in its first week. The album later peaked at 10 on the Sunset 100 chart in 2017, becoming Lil 6's first Astorian top-ten album, and shipping 43,000 album-equivalent units. The album also accumulated a total of 29.58 million on-demand streams from all its tracks, in the week ending 27 October 2016. On 4 February, 2020, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sale equivalents of one million units in Astoria while it would also be certified platinum in Sierra and Skandinavia.

Tour

Opium Tour

Tour by Lil 6
Lil 6 in Porciúncula, Gold Coast on 5 January, 2017
Location	Europe (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Czech Republic, Russia) North America (Astoria, Sierra, Superior, Brazoria)
Associated album	Opium
Start date	27 October, 2016
End date	11 March, 2017
No. of shows	61
Lil 6 concert chronology

The Opium Tour was the first headlining concert tour by Lil 6, launched in support of his debut studio album, Opium. The tour began in Berlin, Germany on 27 October, 2016, and concluded on 11 March, 2017, in Seattle, Astoria, after 3 legs totally 61 shows.
Set list

1. "Myself"
2. "Nothing On Me"
3. "The Man"
4. "Simple"
5. "Just Happened"
6. "Hit"
7. "UP"
8. "By My Lonely Part 2"
9. "Paid"
10. "Coca In The Trap"
11. "Drowning"
12. "No Clout"
13. "Call Me"
14. "Champion"
15. "Red Roses" (encore)

Tracklist

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Call Me"	Blake Duval · Dean Howard	Iron Keys	3:27
2.	"The Man"	Duval · Howard	Iron Keys	4:19
3.	"Drowning" (featuring Cash Diego)	Duval · Jaxen Delaney · Howard	Iron Keys	3:30
4.	"Fell in Luv"	Duval · Dolan Calder	DCC	2:57
5.	"Need Another" (featuring ZuWop)	Duval · Davis Stone · Chris Glover	Tu Dotty	3:03
6.	"Hit"	Duval · Howard · Dillion Joyner	Iron Keys · 7Don	2:49
7.	"Let 'Em Know"	Duval · Casey Reilly	Cesaro	3:12
8.	"By My Lonely Part 2"	Duval · Howard	Iron Keys	3:35
9.	"Contradiction"	Duval · Howard	Iron Keys	2:44
10.	"Paid"	Duval · Charles Harrison	17Idol	3:32
11.	"Nothing On Me"	Duval · Cole Savage	Quitmydayjob	2:56
12.	"Paranoid"	Duval · Howard	Iron Keys	3:05
13.	"No Clout"	Duval · Harrison	17Idol	3:18
14.	"One More"	Duval · Howard	Iron Keys	2:39
15.	"On The Road"	Duval · Howard	Iron Keys	4:03
16.	"Coca In The Trap" (with Trevon Rage)	Duval · Trevon Rage · Howard	Rage · Iron Keys	3:33
Total length:				52:42

Deluxe edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Red Roses" (featuring Greyy Mein)	Duval · Jamar Rashid · Jasen Kotor	Blame It On Jasen	4:24
18.	"They Know Who I Am"	Duval · Jasen Prince	Nardo	4:12
Total length:				61:18

Personnel

• Kaysen McPherson – recording (tracks 1, 5, 10, 12–15)
• Aaron Barker – recording (tracks 2–4, 6-8, 11, 16)
• Jordan "JW" Wilson – recording (track 9)
• Niko Kirby – mixing (tracks 1–7, 9–16)
• Joel Hill – mixing (track 8)
• Kyle Read – mastering (all tracks)