For contemporary fans of metal, indie rock, trap and hip-hop genres of music, the name XXXTentacion will not be easily forgotten in a hurry. Despite having a short-lived career, he was adored, especially by his young supporters, for his versatility and style of music.
But who was XXXTentacion, credited as depression and alienation-themed music singer and advocate, yet suffered the ignominy of a troubled life and got entangled with violence until his last breath?
Table of Content hide 1XXXTentacion Biography 2Career 2.1Career interest 2.2Career start 2.3Career breakthrough 2.4Style of music 3Discography 3.1Albums 3.2Songs 4Death 5FamilyXXXTentacion Biography
XXXTentacion was born Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy on 23 January 1998 in Plantation, located in the US state of Florida. Although he was born in the US, his parents: Dwayne Onfroy and Cleopatra Bernard, are both of Jamaican origin.
He is known to have spent the majority of his childhood in Lauderhill, a city in Broward County, Florida. He was mainly raised by his grandmother due to the problems that his mother faced. His father was also absent during his childhood formation as he had run-ins with the law and was eventually deported back to Jamaica in 2016.
XXXTentacion got roped in with controversies with the law and law enforcement officials from his tender years. At the age of six, he reportedly tried to stab a man attempting to attack his mother, although his family denied the incident. He was subsequently enrolled into a youth programme as a result of the brouhaha. The singer attended Margate Middle School but was expelled after he got involved in a series of physical altercations.
He enrolled at Piper High School for his secondary school education but dropped out in the 10th grade. He, however, wrote the General Educational Development (GED) tests. The GED test provides proof that its taker has US or Canadian high-school-level academic skills.
After his drop-out, XXXTentacion was arrested in 2012 for possession of 21 grams of marijuana in Florida and was subsequently sentenced to one month of juvenile detention and six months at a behavioural correction facility. He was also sent to a youth detention centre for a year on gun possession charges.
In 2016, XXXTentacion stabbed Dylan Turner (a.k.a. Tablez), who was his manager and that of his music partner and friend, Ski Mask the Slump God, over false claims of stolen money. Turner, however, dropped charges against XXXTentacion after the latter returned his laptop. Also in the same year, the singer was arrested and charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. While out of prison on bail, the singer was again arrested in October 2016 on charges of false imprisonment, witness tampering and aggravated battery of his pregnant girlfriend.
He was, however, released from prison in April 2018.
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Career
Career interest
XXXTentacion developed an interest in music when his mother put him in the Sheridan House Family Ministries, Florida. During his over six months stay in the facility, he listened to nu-metal, hard rock and rap songs, and also learnt how to play the piano and guitar.
Career start
His music career kickstarted after he was released from a juvenile detention centre in 2013. According to him, music was an outlet for him to escape crime, noting that he was encouraged by his then-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala. His first publicly released song was “News/Flock”, in June 2013.
In March 2014, he released “Vice City”, which is considered to be his first non-deleted song. He continued uploading small snippets of his songs. In a bid to be recognised and be on a regarded platform, XXXTentacion joined Very Rare (VR All-Stars), a music group established by his friend, Stokeley Goulbourne, who is known by the moniker Ski Mask the Slump God.
However, in 2014, XXXTentacion exited the VR All-Stars and formed the Members Only collective. Ski Mask also joined immediately and the group became a duo in its existence before new members paired with them. XXXTentacion released his first official extended play (EP) entitled: The Fall, in November 2014.
In collaboration with Ski Mask and the members of the group, the singer released the Members Only volumes 1 and 2 in 2015. He also released his official individual debut song entitled: “Look at Me” in December 2015.
Career breakthrough
Interestingly, XXXTentacion’s breakthrough in the American music industry occurred in 2017, but for a 2015 released song. As earlier mentioned, the singer released the song “Look at Me” in December 2015 on Soundcloud, a music sharing platform. However, the song became a sleeper hit in January 2017. It peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and in the top 40 of the Canadian Hot 100. The song subsequently served as the lead single of his mixtape, Revenge, deemed to be his first successful mixtape.
Remarkably, all of these occurred while he was still in jail. While in jail, he signed a management deal with Soloman Sobande, an artiste manager; and was scouted by major labels. He eventually signed for Empire Distribution and enjoyed his career, albeit short-lived.
Style of music
He sings in English. His genre of music is principally nu-metal and trap, spiced with a heavy dose of drill, emo, lo-fi, indie rock, punk rock, hip hop and R&B.
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Discography
For an individual who was active for five years, XXXTentacion put in a lot of work and had quite the body of work.
Albums
XXXTentacion released two studio albums while alive as a singer. Two other albums were released posthumously after his death in June 2018.
Below is a list of them.
| ALBUM TITLE | YEAR | RECORD LABEL |
| 17 | 2017 | Bad Vibes Forever/Empire |
| ? | 2018 | Bad Vibes Forever/Caroline/Capitol |
| Skins | 2018 | Bad Vibes Forever/Empire |
| Bad Vibes Forever | 2019 | Bad Vibes Forever/Empire |
He also released two extended plays (EPs). They are:
| EP TITLE | YEAR |
| The Fall | 2014 |
| Willy Wonka Was a Child Murderer | 2016 |
The singer also released three volumes of a collaborative album with the Members Only group, while the group released volume 4 posthumously in his honour.
Songs
To his credit, XXXTentacion has over 70 songs. A good number of them have gone on to become hit bangers.
Below is a compilation of the singer’s lead songs.
| SONGS | YEAR RELEASED |
| News/Flock | 2013 |
| Vice City | 2014 |
| The Explanation | 2017 |
| Jocelyn Flores | 2017 |
| Depression & Obsession | 2017 |
| Everybody Dies in Their Nightmares | 2017 |
| Revenge | 2017 |
| Save Me | 2017 |
| Dead Inside (Interlude) | 2017 |
| Fuck Love | 2017 |
| Carry On | 2017 |
| Orlando | 2017 |
| Ayala | 2017 |
| Introduction (Instructions) | 2018 |
| Alone, Part 3 | 2018 |
| Moonlight | 2018 |
| Sad | 2018 |
| The Remedy for a Broken Heart (Why Am I So in Love) | 2018 |
| Floor 555 | 2018 |
| Numb | 2018 |
| Infinity (888) | 2018 |
| Going Down | 2018 |
| Pain = Best Friend | 2018 |
| $$$ | 2018 |
| Love Yourself | 2018 |
| Smash | 2018 |
| I Don’t Even Speak Spanish LOL | 2018 |
| Changes | 2018 |
| Hope | 2018 |
| Schizophrenia | 2018 |
| Before I Close My Eyes | 2018 |
| Introduction | 2018 |
| Guardian Angel | 2018 |
| Train Food | 2018 |
| Whoa (Mind in Awe) | 2018 |
| Bad | 2018 |
| Staring At The Sky | 2018 |
| One Minute | 2018 |
| Difference | 2018 |
| I Don’t Let Go | 2018 |
| What Are You So Afraid Of? | 2018 |
| Introduction | 2019 |
| Ex Bitch | 2019 |
| Ugly | 2019 |
| Bad Vibes Forever | 2019 |
| School Shooters | 2019 |
| I Changed Her Life | 2019 |
| Triumph | 2019 |
| Limbo | 2019 |
| Before I Realize | 2019 |
| Ecstasy | 2019 |
| Kill My Vibe | 2019 |
| Hot Gyal | 2019 |
| The Only Time I Feel Alive | 2019 |
| The Interlude That Never Ends | 2019 |
| Daemons | 2019 |
| Attention | 2019 |
| Eat It Up | 2019 |
| Voss | 2019 |
| Royalty | 2019 |
| Wanna Grow Old | 2019 |
| Hearteater | 2019 |
| Northstar Remix | 2019 |
| Chase/Glass Shards | 2019 |
| Numb The Pain | 2019 |
| It’s All Fading to Black | 2019 |
Death
On 18 June 2018, XXXTentacion was killed by two armed men while leaving the Riva Motorsports Motorcycle and Marine Superstore in Florida. The gunmen shot him multiple times and stole a small Louis Vuitton bag containing $50,000.
Four suspects were arrested and charged with killing the singer.
Family
The late XXXTentacion is survived by two siblings: his sister, Ariana; and brother, Aiden.
The late singer’s son, Gekyume Onfroy, was born on 26 January 2019, seven months after his death. The child was born by Jenesis Sanchez, who was XXXTentacion’s girlfriend at the time of his death.
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