2022 Review: “I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You” by Quadeca

TW: suicide

Ben Lasky, better known as Quadeca, has achieved what many young content creators dream of: transitioning from humble YouTuber to full-fledged star.

When Lasky started his channel in 2012, at age 12, he mostly covered video games, particularly the FIFA series. By 2014, though, he started recording and posting himself rapping, including freestyles and early live performances. He would continue this for the next four years, slowly building a respectable online following, until something happened that blew his public profile into the stratosphere.

Fellow YouTuber and rapper KSI called out a number of rappers on the platform, including Quadeca, calling them frauds. Not one to take a challenge lying down, Lasky quickly responded with the diss track “Insecure.” Much to his surprise, “Insecure” promptly went viral, earning eight million views within ten days, and even earning praise from KSI, the subject of the song.

Capitalizing on that early notoriety, Lasky released his first album under the Quadeca name, Voice Memos. Primarily a trap and emo-rap record…