Life of a Dark Rose

Life of a Dark Rose is the fourth mixtape by Lil Skies, released on January 10, 2018 by All We Got Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The mixtape debuted at number 23 and peaked at number ten on the US Billboard 200 albums chart.[6]

Life of a Dark Rose
Mixtape by Lil Skies
Released	January 10, 2018
Recorded	2017
Genre	Hip hop trap
Length	41:00
Label	All We Got Atlantic
Producer	Aguafina CashMoneyAP Ghxst J Gramm JR Hitmaker Maaly Raw Menoh Beats Mono Beats Nick Mira Sidepce Taz Taylor The Martianz
Lil Skies chronology
Life of a Dark Rose (2018) Shelby (2019)
Singles from Life of a Dark Rose
"Red Roses" Released: June 26, 2017[1] "Signs of Jealousy" Released: September 6, 2017[2] "Lust" Released: December 12, 2017[3] "Nowadays" Released: December 17, 2017[4] "Welcome to the Rodeo" Released: January 10, 2018[5]

Singles

After the release of the single "Red Roses", the track "Lust" from the album, which was produced by CashMoneyAP and Menoh Beats, was released as a promotional single on December 15, 2017.[7] He released the single from the album, "Nowadays", in December 2017 as well.[8] He released a new video for "Nowadays" on December 17, 2017.[9][10] After releasing "Red Roses" and "Lust"[11] in the latter half of 2017, Lil Skies signed with Atlantic Records.[12][11]

"Lust" has been certified gold, while "Red Roses" and Nowadays have been certified platinum.

The album itself was released on January 10, 2018[11][8] with 14 songs and only one guest appearance, from Landon Cube,[13] who appears on two tracks:[12] Nowadays" and "Red Roses".[12]

Critical reception

Pitchfork gave it a score of 6.4/10, with reviewer Evan Rytlewski writing that the lyrics were very simple in meaning or inane, and the music unoriginal. However, it also said the album was an "easygoing 40 minutes of sugary trap and mellow, blissfully hazy vibe music," which used sounds "of the moment without advancing them much."[14] Not assigning it a number rating, Paul Simpson of Allmusic said the release "generally feels easy, relaxed, and uncomplicated, with hazy trap beats accompanied by Skies' straightforward, Auto-Tune-free rapping/singing."[12] Uproxx gave it a positive review, saying in the headline that there was the "polish of a seasoned veteran" on the album, with Lil Skies "mixing in plenty of new school influence with his own smooth, polished delivery."[15] Giving it a score of 3.2 of out 5, HipHopDX praised the tracks "Red Roses" and "Nowadays" as the highlights of the album, and said the rest of the tracks were "eh," even if "polished" with catchy beats and good production.[16]

Commercial performance

Life of a Dark Rose debuted at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, also opening at number 13 on the US Top Rap Albums chart and number 16 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[9] The song "Nowadays" from the album, featuring Landon Cube, reached number 85 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for songs by January 17, 2018. It also reached number 33 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, with the album's song "Red Roses" also on that chart, reaching number 36 by January 17, 2018. Uproxx said that the climbing ranking from the week before in the charts was spiked when he released the music video for "Nowadays.[6]

In January 2018, the album reached the top ten of Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart,[12] jumping from number 16 to number six in its second week, and reaching six as of January 25, 2018.[17] Billboard wrote about the singles at that point, "Nowadays" was 22 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and "Roses" was 28.[17]

On November 9, 2018, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units.[18] By December 2018, Life of a Dark Rose had sold 652,000 album-equivalent units in the United States.[19]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Welcome to the Rodeo"	Kimetrius Foose Danny Snodgrass	Taz Taylor Mono Beats	2:49
2.	"The Clique"	Foose Jamaal Henry	Maaly Raw	2:26
3.	"Red Roses" (featuring Landon Cube)	Foose Landon Cube	Menoh Beats	4:23
4.	"Lust"	Foose Alex Petit	CashMoneyAP	2:36
5.	"Cloudy Skies"	Foose Brian Aubert Christopher Guanlao Joe Lester Nikki Monninger Jason Luu	Ghxst	3:13
6.	"Signs of Jealousy"	Foose	Menoh Beats	2:58
7.	"Big Money"	Foose Julian Gramma	J Gramm	2:35
8.	"Tell My Haters"	Foose Snodgrass	Taz Taylor JR Hitmaker	2:00
9.	"Boss Up"	Foose	Aguafina	2:36
10.	"Garden"	Foose	Menoh Beats	3:05
11.	"Lettuce Sandwich"	Foose	Menoh Beats	3:15
12.	"Strictly Business"	Foose Snodgrass Nicholas Mira	Taz Taylor Nick Mira Menoh Beats	2:39
13.	"Kill4u"	Foose Snodgrass Jordan Hutchins	Taz Taylor Sidepce The Martianz	3:01
14.	"Nowadays" (featuring Landon Cube)	Foose Cube Petit	CashmoneyAP Mono Beats	3:24
Total length:				41:00

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2018) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 92 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 115 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[22] 17 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 94 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24] 43 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 38 US Billboard 200[26] 10 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[27] 6 US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[28] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2018) Position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[29] 46 US Billboard 200[30] 44 Chart (2019) Position US Billboard 200[31] 197

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[32]	Gold	40,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[33]	Silver	60,000
United States (RIAA)[34]	Platinum	1,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Lil Skies - Red Roses". June 26, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
2. "Lil Skies - Signs of Jealousy". September 6, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
3. "Lil Skies - Lust". December 12, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
4. "Lil Skies - Nowadays". December 17, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
5. "Welcome to the Rodeo - Single". January 10, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
6. "Billboard's Charts Confirm Lil Skies Has The Makings Of A Star", Uproxx, January 17, 2018
7. "Lil Skies Raps About "Lust" On New Song", XXL, December 15, 2017, retrieved February 2, 2018
8. "Lil Skies Releases 'Life of a Dark Rose' Mixtape", XXL, January 10, 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
9. "Lil Skies Makes Billboard Hot 100 Debut With 'Nowadays' & 'Red Roses", Billboard, January 17, 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
10. "Lil Skies Roams The School Halls in "Nowadays" Video Featuring Landon Cube", XXL, December 18, 2017, retrieved February 2, 2018
11. "Lil Skies Releases 'Life of a Dark Rose' Mixtape", Pigeons & Planes, January 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
12. AllMusic Review by Paul Simpson – Life of a Dark Rose, AllMusic, December 12, 2017, retrieved February 2, 2018
13. "Lil Skies Introduces Fans To "Life Of A Dark Rose" With New Mixtape", HipHopDX, January 11, 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
14. "Lil Skies Life of a Dark Rose", Pitchfork, January 15, 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
15. "Lil Skies Has The Polish Of A Seasoned Veteran On His New Mixtape 'Life Of A Dark Rose'", Uproxx, January 10, 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
16. "Review: Lil Skies' "Life Of A Dark Rose" Debut Shows Potential, But Eh", HipHopDX, January 30, 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
17. "Lil Skies' 'Life of a Dark Rose' Hits Top 10 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart", Billboard, January 25, 2018, retrieved February 2, 2018
20. "ARIA Chart Watch #485". auspOp. August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
21. "Ultratop.be – Lil Skies – Life of a Dark Rose" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
22. "Lil Skies – Chart History: Canadian Albums". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Lil Skies – Life of a Dark Rose" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
24. "Lil Skies: Life of a Dark Rose" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
25. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
26. "Lil Skies – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
27. "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: January 27, 2018". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
28. "Lil Skies Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
29. "Canadian Albums – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
30. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
31. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
32. "Canadian album certifications – Lil Skies – Life of a Dark Rose". Music Canada.
33. "British album certifications – Lil Skies – Life of a Dark Rose". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Life of a Dark Rose in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
34. "American album certifications – Lil Skies – Life of a Dark Rose". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.