XXXTentacion

American rapper and singer-songwriter

Date of Birth	:	23 Jan, 1998
Place of Birth	:	Plantation, Florida, United States
Profession	:	American Rapper, American Singer, Songwriter
Nationality	:	American

Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion gained a cult following among his young fanbase during his short career with his depression- and alienation-themed music. Critics and fans often credit him for his musical versatility, with his music exploring emo, trap, trap metal, nu metal, indie rock, lo-fi, hip hop, R&B, and punk rock. He is considered to be a leading figure in the establishment of the emo rap and SoundCloud rap genres, which garnered mainstream attention during the mid-to-late 2010s.

Born in Plantation, Florida, XXXTentacion spent most of his childhood in Lauderhill. He began writing music after being released from a juvenile detention center and soon started his music career on SoundCloud in 2013, employing styles and techniques that were unconventional in rap music such as distortion and heavy guitar-backed instrumentals, drawing inspiration from third-wave emo and grunge. In 2014, he formed the underground collective Members Only and alongside other members of the collective soon became a popular figure in SoundCloud rap, a trap music scene that takes elements of lo-fi music and harsh 808s. XXXTentacion gained mainstream attention with the single "Look at Me". His debut album 17 (2017) is certified triple-platinum in the US and reached number two on the Billboard 200. His second album ? (2018) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and is certified quintuple-platinum in the US. Its lead single, "Sad!", posthumously reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and had amassed more than 1.3 billion views on YouTube and 1.7 billion streams on Spotify by November 2021, as well as being certified Diamond by the RIAA in August 2021.

XXXTentacion faced a variety of legal issues throughout his lifetime, most notably the controversy that arose from the battery charges that were levied against him in 2016. His history of legal issues and alleged violence has been described by some as defining his legacy, while others have criticized the media's portrayal of him, arguing that his perceived improvements in character later in life have made his legacy into a tale of the power of second chances and redemption.

On June 18, 2018, XXXTentacion, age 20, was murdered when he was shot near a motorcycle dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The attackers fled the scene in an SUV after stealing his Louis Vuitton bag containing $50,000 in cash. Four suspects were arrested and charged with first-degree murder among other charges. In August 2022, one of the four men pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for testimony against the other three defendants in their trial. The trial initiated on February 7, 2023. On March 20, 2023, all three were found guilty on all counts. On April 6, 2023, they were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

XXXTentacion has RIAA-certified sales of 61 million units in the US and BPI-certified sales of over 7 million units in the UK, bringing his total to 68 million certified records sold in the two countries. Since his death, he has won an American Music Award and a BET Hip Hop Award and received 11 Billboard Music Award nominations. Two posthumous albums were released, Skins (2018) and Bad Vibes Forever (2019); the former became his second number-one album on the Billboard 200, while the latter entered the top 5.

Early life

Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy was born on January 23, 1998, in Plantation, Florida, to Jamaican parents, Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy and Cleopatra Eretha Dreena Bernard. His father named him after the Bob Marley song "So Jah Seh", which interpolates Ezekiel 34. Both Onfroy's father and grandfather were Rastafarians. Onfroy was born with a ventricular septal defect, commonly known as a "hole in the heart". Due to his condition, he never grew taller than 5 feet 6 inches. Onfroy stated he also had Syrian, Indian, and possibly Italian ancestry in an interview on The Beat in 2017.

Due to his mother's personal problems, Onfroy was mainly raised by his grandmother Collette Jones in Pompano Beach, Florida, and Lauderhill, Florida. When Onfroy was six years old, he allegedly tried to stab a man attempting to attack his mother and was eventually put into a youth program before living with his grandmother. A source close to the Onfroy family denied that the alleged stabbing incident occurred, and it could not be corroborated by police reports, since Onfroy was a minor. Despite this, trauma and domestic violence experts have stated that it is unlikely that the story was fabricated.

When Onfroy was a child, he discovered his uncle's deceased body after the man committed suicide by hanging. Onfroy referenced his trauma from the incident in multiple songs. In 2017, Onfroy alluded that he had been sexually abused by an unnamed adult when he was a child. Other traumatic events that Onfroy witnessed as a child included someone being physically tortured and someone being raped. According to Onfroy's mother, he was routinely beaten by his father as a child; she claimed that Onfroy's father tried to hit her in front of Onfroy on several occasions. In early 2008, when Onfroy was ten, his father was jailed for nine years in Arizona on RICO charges after the Drug Enforcement Administration organized a sting operation. Onfroy's father was released from BOP custody on October 30, 2015, and deported to Jamaica in late 2016. In a 2017 interview, when asked about his relationship with his father, Onfroy sarcastically asked, "What's a father?"

Onfroy's interest in music initially started after his aunt persuaded him to begin attending school choir and later church choir. He was soon kicked out of the school choir after attacking another student for touching him. Onfroy attended Margate Middle School, from which he was later expelled after a series of physical altercations. He was subsequently enrolled into Sheridan House Family Ministries by his mother for over six months. Onfroy began to listen to rap, nu metal, and hard rock during his time at Sheridan House Family Ministries, which led to him learning how to play the piano and guitar.

Onfroy attended Piper High School until he dropped out in the tenth grade.He described himself as a "misfit" during that time, citing how quiet he was despite being popular and regularly involved in physical confrontations. As a child, Onfroy was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Onfroy was not the athletic type and said that he was insecure and depressed during his time in high school.

Career

He became the first artist to posthumously release music as NFTs with five scrapped SoundCloud songs on May 10, 2021, in which News/Flock was slightly re-worked on.

In November 2021, Solomon Sobande, Onfroy's manager, said that a posthumous collaboration between Onfroy and late emo rapper Juice Wrld is in the works.

On January 23, 2022, on what would have been XXXTentacion's 24th birthday, his estate announced that they would be releasing his 2014 SoundCloud track, "Vice City", to all streaming services on January 28, 2022. Considered a fan-favorite, the song was his first release on SoundCloud. The release is the first by his estate in efforts to make all his unofficial releases available on main streaming platforms. It was also confirmed that a documentary about the rapper, titled Look at Me, was in the works. It was released on Hulu on May 26, 2022.

On February 23, 2022, rapper Kanye West released the demo album Donda 2, in which Onfroy has featured vocals on the songs "True Love" and "Selfish". On May 23, 2022, it was announced on by XXXTentacion's estate on his Instagram account that a new album, titled Look at Me: The Album would be released alongside the documentary, and that "True Love" would be released as a single from the album on May 27, 2022.

On June 10, 2022, along with his documentary, Look at Me: The Album released, featuring 25 songs including his earlier SoundCloud songs, his biggest hits, and the single "True Love" with Kanye West.

In 2023, singles such as "I'm Not Human" and "Let's Pretend We're Numb" were released onto streaming and digital download, as well as a re-release of Onfroy's 2016 EP ItWasntEnough.

Musical style

XXXTentacion's music explored a wide variety of genres, including emo, trap, lo-fi, indie rock, punk rock, nu metal, and hip hop. His influences included Kurt Cobain, whom he cited as his biggest inspiration, 2Pac, Cage the Elephant, Chingy, Coldplay, Eminem, The Fray, Chief Keef, Gorillaz, Hoobastank, Lana Del Rey, Laura Mvula, The Notorious B.I.G., Papa Roach, Yoko Shimomura, Tech N9ne, Three Days Grace, The Weeknd, and Kanye West.

When speaking of his influencers, XXXTentacion said, "I'm really into multi-genre things that aren't just based around rapping itself. I'm more inspired by artists in other genres besides rap." XXXTentacion as an artist has been defined as versatile and his music has been described as having a "lo-fi" aesthetic, being diverse and experimental, drawing influence from heavy metal. His music also has the tendency to contain distorted bass and an "intentional lack of polish". Speaking about this, XXXTentacion said that the intentionally bad mixing on his tracks make it "genuine". Some fans have also noted that his music has inspired many up-and-coming artists, such as Juice Wrld and Trippie Redd, into channeling similar aesthetics into their music, with the former dedicating the song "Legends" to XXXTentacion following his death.

XXXTentacion generally changed his vocal style depending on the type of song he was performing on. His vocal style has been described as displaying "emotional vulnerability" on much more depressing tracks and as replicating screaming on much more aggressive tracks. His songwriting has been described as outlandish and shocking, often referring to "violence, sex, and drugs",though on some projects such as The Fall and 17, Onfroy's songwriting was more emotional in comparison to his previous work, often referring to loneliness, depression, isolation, and anxiety. He was known for his "depressing, and at times devastating" music that brought attention to mental health.

Personal life

Onfroy at an event for the Miami Children's Initiative in February 2018

Onfroy had two half siblings—an older sister named Ariana and a younger brother named Aiden. Onfroy lived in Florida with rapper Denzel Curry and producer Ronny J in the past. Before his death, Onfroy was moving into a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) mansion in Parkland, which he bought, in November 2017, for US$1.4 million. At the time of his death, Onfroy lived with his girlfriend Jenesis Sanchez. The couple owned three cats and two dogs.

Onfroy had been friends with a number of rappers and musicians, including Ski Mask the Slump God, Lil Uzi Vert, PnB Rock, Denzel Curry, Lil Yachty, Trippie Redd, Juice Wrld, and Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish claimed in an interview that Onfroy was able to talk her out of a plan to end her own life.

Fellow emo rapper Trippie Redd briefly ceased his association with Onfroy once details of the allegations against Onfroy surfaced. After the falling out, Onfroy stated at a concert that he understood why Trippie Redd did not want to associate with him, saying, "Not that long ago I was a piece of shit. I will tell you all personally I was a piece of shit person, bro. And I can admit that, bro. I was not a good person. But I've been trying my best to change myself." Onfroy said that he still believed Trippie Redd was an "amazing artist" and proceeded to perform their song, "Fuck Love". Trippie Redd accepted his apology and responded on Instagram, "It takes a real man to speak on shit and really apologize for their actions... I also apologize for anything I've said about you."

In February 2018, Onfroy posted on Instagram that he was preparing to return to school. In March 2018 he announced that he was getting his GED, which he completed according to his death certificate, and going to community college. Onfroy was public about his struggle with depression.

Relationships

Onfroy met Geneva Ayala in November 2014. The two became in contact when Onfroy messaged Ayala saying that he wanted to fight her boyfriend after her boyfriend had allegedly posted scantily clad photos of her without her consent, though a fight never occurred. Ayala's at-the-time boyfriend alleged that she had punched and slapped him during breakdowns she had, though he admitted he had slapped her back occasionally to "snap her out of it". Ayala's mother kicked her out when she was 16 and she had been living with her at-the-time boyfriend until they broke up. In 2016, Ayala moved in with Onfroy and his roommates.

Onfroy's ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala had accused Onfroy of domestic abuse. According to Ayala's statement, Onfroy beat her at times, choked her, broke clothes hangers on her legs, threatened to chop off her hair or cut out her tongue, pressed knives or scissors to her face, and held her head underwater in their bathroom while promising to drown her. "His favorite thing was to just backhand my mouth", Ayala says. "That always left welts inside my lips."

The first incident of domestic violence allegedly occurred when Onfroy slapped Ayala and broke her iPhone 6S, because she had complimented a male friend on his new jewelry. Onfroy later repaired the phone. In one incident recounted to a prosecutor, Ayala said Onfroy asked her which object she wanted him to force into her vagina: a long-handled barbecue fork, or a wire barbecue brush, she chose the fork and Onfroy told her to undress. She claimed Onfroy was lightly dragging the tool against her inner thigh when she passed out; he did not penetrate her with it. Ayala stated that once she woke up, Onfroy started apologizing to her profusely for the incident. Following the alleged incidents, Ayala started a GoFundMe page, claiming she needed surgery for damage to her left eye. She raised over $32,000, including $5,000 being donated by Onfroy. The fundraiser was temporarily suspended by GoFundMe due to allegations of fraud. It was never confirmed whether Ayala had the surgery done.

Ayala said that Onfroy would often guilt her with near-attempts at suicide. Ayala said he used to fill a bathtub with water then fetch the microwave and dangle it over, threatening to let go. Another time he allegedly dangled himself from a 12th-story balcony by his legs and threatened suicide again after learning that Ayala had cheated on him during his time in jail. A witness to the incident stated that Ayala began to "box" Onfroy's face after the incident, to which Ayala admitted, but said that it was the only time she hit Onfroy. After Onfroy's death, Ayala said in regards to those discussing her accusations against Onfroy, "It's disgusting that people are speaking for me. Responding to those who criticized her for mourning Onfroy after his death, Ayala said on her Instagram story, "Did y'all know him? No, y'all did not. I knew who the fuck he was… I still fucking love him. I lost someone very dear to me and I can grieve whenever the fuck I fucking want to. Onfroy maintained his innocence publicly until his death.

Roommates of both Onfroy and Ayala describe Onfroy's remorse after the alleged incidents, and say that Onfroy said he "badly wanted to control his anger. This included an occasion where Onfroy was described as falling to his knees and weeping, begging to himself for his behavior to change. Some psychologists have speculated that Onfroy may have suffered from an attachment disorder stemming from the absence of his mother and father during childhood, which could have made him prone to uncontrollable violent outbursts. Onfroy was re-diagnosed with bipolar disorder as an adult after initially being diagnosed as a child. Onfroy had been seeing a therapist and began taking medication by the time of his death.

On New Year's Eve 2017, Onfroy entered a relationship with Jenesis Sanchez, which eventually became a domestic partnership. Sanchez said that in their relationship Onfroy showed changes in controlling his anger and would simply walk away if an argument ensued, rather than ever being physical. Onfroy began saying that he saw his deceased friend, Jocelyn Flores as his "guardian angel" and that it helped him to make better decisions in his relationship. Three days after his death, Onfroy's mother announced on Instagram that Sanchez was pregnant with his child. In an interview, Sanchez said Onfroy was notified three weeks before he passed. The baby was confirmed to be a boy on August 22, 2018, and was born on January 26, 2019, three days after what would have been his father's 21st birthday.

A couple of weeks after Sanchez requested Onfroy's DNA samples to prove the paternity of her son, Onfroy's mother filed to block the test. Onfroy's mother sealed her court filings in opposition, so it is unclear why she objects to a paternity test. Some fans suspect it has something to do with her financial stake in Onfroy's estate. On May 15, 2019, Sanchez won the legal battle and a Florida judge granted access to a DNA sample from Onfroy.

Controversy

XXXTentacion's personal life and history are noted as prominent parts of his legacy. An article in The Guardian described his legacy in more critical terms, stating that "He will be remembered mostly for the unusually cruel violence he committed on vulnerable people, particularly his ex-girlfriend, crimes for which he never expressed remorse. Mutual friends of both XXXTentacion and his ex-girlfriend dispute this narrative, recalling times when he had broken down in remorse. According to the article, his music "reflected a life lived with disregard for humanity, both other people's and his own" and rarely attempted to engage in bravado or bragging, instead focusing on "mental illness, suicide, extreme misogyny, and a prevailing feeling of numbness", though acknowledging that XXXTentacion "made some attempts to rehabilitate his image.

In an article for The Atlantic, Hannah Giorgis expressed similar criticisms, though she also noted that XXXTentacion "reminded young fans in particular that their hurt was valid but that it did not form the sum total of their lives" and that he "gave voice to their insecurities. Contrasting these elements of his legacy, Giorgis acknowledged that though XXXTentacion spent his career encouraging young fans to recognize their greater worth, she believed his legacy is nonetheless characterized by the trauma he both experienced and caused.

In The Washington Post, Chris Richards commented on XXXTentacion's complicated legacy, contrasting how he "encouraged his fans to find hope in the fog of their despair, but bragged enthusiastically about the joy he felt in brutalizing others. According to Richards, XXXTentacion's music "brought solace to the depressed" while validating the sort of violence he practiced, and legitimized the pain of his fans while erasing the suffering of domestic violence victims. XXXTentacion's music serves as an example for Richards of how "a hateful song" might normalize such feelings in "hateful people", which contributes to the profound paranoia in society about the hatred that might be in the minds of others.

In an article for Vibe, while acknowledging XXXTentacion's controversial history, Shenequa Golding criticized those celebrating his murder. Golding commented in response to these reactions, "Jahseh was 20 years old, which means five years ago, he was 15, and 10 years ago, he was 10. His death has required that we be the bigger person and acknowledge and respect that his life was taken, even though he didn't offer the same courtesy through his music and actions... if this 20-year-old was killed, and some of us find joy in that, how much have we exfoliated away at our own empathy and humanity? How raw have we become?" Golding stated that although she would not condone XXXTentacion's past actions, "he should at least earn your silence, because being delighted and vocal about his untimely death, despite his horrid past, is just wrong.

In an article for Slate, Jack Hamilton shared similar sentiments to Golding, warning of the slippery slope of moral absolutism in the wake of XXXTentacion's death, calling those celebrating his murder "self-righteous" and stating, "I have trouble mining any feelings of superiority or 'justice' from the killing of a 20-year-old, no matter what he did in his life." Hamilton added that he disagreed with the notion that XXXTentacion was irredeemable, "but now he'll never have a chance." Hamilton also cautioned against demonizing XXXTentacion's fans, writing, "Those people just lost an artist who was important to them, who spoke to and for them when no one else seemed to, who just died in an act of brutal violence, and almost all of us of at any age know what that's like.

Jordan Bassett of NME additionally shared a similar point of view to that of Golding and Hamilton, writing, Controversy

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