XXXTentacion shot to death at the age of 20
Rapper XXXTentacion (real name: Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy), who was shot to death at the age of 20 Monday, wasn’t yet a household name. But he was well on his way.
Already popular on SoundCloud, XXXTentacion’s latest album, ?, landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart when it was released in March. His debut album, 17, peaked at No. 2 on the same chart last September. Kendrick Lamar was a known supporter, and the young rapper had millions of followers on social media.
If you don’t know his music, XXXTentacion’s name might be familiar because he was one of the artists mentioned last month when streaming service Spotify vowed to stop promoting the music of R. Kelly and other artists who demonstrated “hateful conduct.” (This is a policy they’ve since dropped.)
Some of the Florida native’s history fit into that category. When he died, he was awaiting trial on charges of battery, false imprisonment, and witness tampering, to which he had pleaded not guilty, according to the New York Times. His former girlfriend stated in a deposition that XXXTentacion often abused her. She said that he had punched, kicked, strangled, and head-butted her while she was pregnant in 2016. She also accused him of keeping her at a friend’s house for two days.
View photos
He’s had physical altercations at concerts and feuded with Drake and Offset from Migos.
In 2016, he was also arrested on home invasion charges for an incident that happened in 2015. He was released from jail on house arrest late last year.
As the New York Times noted, the artist didn’t give many interviews. He preferred to interact with his fans on social media, where he had 1.2 million followers on Twitter and another 8.2 million on Instagram. “If I’m going to die or ever be a sacrifice, I want to make sure that my life made at least five million kids happy, or they found some sort of answers or resolve in my life, regardless of the negative around my name, regardless of the bad things people say to me,” he reportedly said on Instagram.
In the wake of his death, many in the hip-hop community are offering their condolences.
“This got me f***ed up,” J. Cole writes. “RIP X. Enormous talent and limitless potential and a strong desire to be a better person. God bless his family, friends and fans.”
Given XXXTentacion’s troubling past, Twitter is filled with mixed emotions over his death. For every RIP tweet sent, there are also insensitive jokes and memes being shared. However, both fans and nonfans are mourning the loss of a young man gone too soon.
Comments
Post a Comment