Posthumous albums by young rappers are topping the charts

BY NOW HIP-HOP fans are all too familiar with the success that can come after an artist’s untimely death. Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G, two American rappers who were murdered in 1996 and 1997, respectively, have released more music in death than in life. Other well-known rappers to notch up hits after their deaths include Eazy-E (1995), Big L (2000) and J Dilla (2006). The past few years have seen a flurry of such posthumous hits. Last week Juice WRLD, a rapper who died in December, debuted atop America’s Billboard charts with his third album, “Legends Never Die”. By one reckoning, it is the most successful posthumous release in two decades.