One year after his death, XXXTentacion left a triumphant, tragic, troubled legacy
Fans converged on a Florida cemetery Tuesday and on social media to mark what for them is a devastating, one-year anniversary: the June 18, 2018 killing of rising rap megastar XXXTentacion in a robbery outside a South Florida motorcycle shop.
XXXTentacion Fans Flood to Gravesite on 1-Year Anniversary of His Death https://t.co/BJyxU8ZjlD
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 18, 2019
Like the slaying earlier this year of Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, the shooting death of XXXTentacion hit the hip-hop world especially hard.
At just 20, XXXTentacion was hailed as one of the most promising artists of his generation, with his single “Sad!” going double-platinum four days before he died and recently earning the rare distinction of surpassing 1 billion streams on Spotify, according to Forbes.
The rapper, born Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, didn’t live to enjoy this success. To many, he is mourned as a gifted artist who openly channeled his troubled childhood and mental health issues into provocative art and an arresting social media presence. He will be the subject of a new documentary, according to a post shared Tuesday by his official Instagram account.
An official xxxtentacion documentary is confirmed on the way
There is no release date yet pic.twitter.com/GTggClDSIL
— HIP HOP FACTS (@DailyRapFacts) June 18, 2019
But XXXTentacion also leaves behind a complicated legacy that put him Tuesday at the center of an ongoing debate about how fans and the music industry fail to hold accountable talented, popular and profitable artists for the harm they allegedly cause others.
When XXXTentacion died, he faced multiple charges centered around the alleged domestic abuse of his pregnant ex-girlfriend. Because he had pleaded not guilty and his trial was pending, fans chose to believe that he was either the victim of a lying ex-girlfriend or of malicious prosecution, according to music journalist Gary Suarez, writing for The Guardian in October 2018.
As people Tuesday either mourned XXXTentacion or questioned if he deserved such a national outpouring of grief, here are some notable events of his short life and untimely death:
Rising megastar
Born in Plantation, Florida, XXXTentacion began writing music after being released from a juvenile detention center and soon became a popular figure in SoundCloud rap. His first solo single, “Look at Me,” went platinum in 2016, and his first album, “17,” debuted at no. 2 on the Billboard 200 record chart and later went platinum.
This was one of XXXTentacion’s last performances #LLJ pic.twitter.com/HHGIzERtB1
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) June 18, 2019
When “Sad!” was released in March 2018, it immediately hit no. 1 on the Billboard 200, Forbes reported. After he died, fans streamed “Sad!” in massive numbers. The song’s more than 1 billion streams as of earlier this month puts the song and XXXTentacion into the same company as Drake, Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, The Chainsmokers and others, Forbes added.
A violent month
XXXTentacion was killed on the same day — June 18, 2018 — as Pittsburgh rapper Jimmy Wopo, 21. Their deaths were followed about two weeks later by the brutal and brazen slaying of Canadian rapper Smoke Dawg in Toronto’s busy Entertainment District.
One year ago today rappers xxxtentacion & Pittsburgh’s own Jimmy Wopo died R.I.P to both legends pic.twitter.com/CU5XRNtbDQ
— WAMO 100.1 107.3 (@WAMO100) June 18, 2019
“This has been a summer full of tragedy, with rap artists who had a lifetime of potential having their lives cruelly taken away from them,” noted the music site Hotnewhiphop.com at the time.
Drake, who collaborated with Dawg, a fellow Toronto native, added to that sense of devastation among the hip-hop community by writing on Instagram: “All these gifts and blessed souls and inner lights being extinguished lately is devastating. So much talent and so many stories we never get to see play out.”
Four men were arrested and later indicted on first-degree murder charges in connection with XXXTentacion’s death. In a much more recent and seemingly unrelated event, the rapper’s 16-year-old friend and fellow musician C Glizzy was seriously wounded in the head in a shooting in South Florida Saturday, E! News reported.
Awards, other honors
After his death, XXXTentacion received music major award nominations, E! News reported. He was nominated posthumously for two 2018 American Music awards and won for favorite soul R&B album for “17.” He also won best new hip hop artist from the BET Hip Hop awards.
A son he’ll never meet
When XXXTentacion died, he left behind a pregnant girlfriend, Jenesis Sanchez. In early January, Sanchez and XXXTentacion’s mother, Cleopatra Bernard, announced that Sanchez had given birth to a son, Gekyume Onfroy. The boy arrived three days after what would have been XXXTentacion’s 21st birthday.
The women’s announcement, obtained by People and other outlets, explained that the late rapper had a role in deciding his son’s name.
“Gekyume’s name is derived from a word X created prior to his passing, which means ‘a different state’ or ‘next’ universe of thought. XXXTentacion specifically chose this name for his first born son; his family is honored to fulfill his wish and shower baby Gekyume with love,” the statement continued.
XXXTentacion’s Baby Mama Jenesis Sanchez Breaks Her Silence As His Mom Cleo Shares First Photos of Gekyume https://t.co/Pnv7WW3Tov pic.twitter.com/8SEzVPh79T
— Hot Celebrity News (@hotcelebnews360) March 1, 2019
A troubled life leaves a complicated legacy
Many fans chose to remember XXXTentacion Tuesday as a brave and masterful artist. For the one-year anniversary of his death, fans took to Twitter to write “so sad,” “rest in peace,” and “thank you for the music.” They called him “young king.”
RIP @xxxtentacion you changed the world and we will love you forever
— adam22 (@adam22) June 18, 2019
Anyways, in honour of the man himself, here’s a video of the greatest live performance of all time @xxxtentacion @RollingLoud #RIPXXXTENTACION #LLJ
pic.twitter.com/OGi8wFqAo7— ? (@lbplayer1512) June 18, 2019
But others see him as self-serving, excessively nihilistic and “monstrous” in the way he failed to atone for the the violence he perpetrated against vulnerable people, notably his ex-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala, music journalist Suarez wrote in his Guardian column.
Before he died, XXXTentacion faced substantial prison time if convicted on four counts involving battery of a pregnant woman, strangulation, false imprisonment, and witness-tampering. In a 2017 deposition and in press accounts, Ayala offered details of a “horrific pattern” of abuse that began after she and the rapper began dating in May 2016, according to Pitchfork.
The abuse included a October 2016 incident, shortly after Ayala found out she was pregnant with XXXTentacion’s baby, Pitchfork reported. XXXTententacion allegedly head-butted Ayala, punched her, stomped on her and repeatedly hit and kicked her. The incident left Ayala in need of orbital surgery.
In a secretly recorded tape that Pitchfork obtained in October 2018 from the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office, XXXTentacion was heard telling acquaintances that he believed his girlfriend had cheated on him. He also admitting to attacking her and said he would “kill” her “if she played with me.”
In the tape, the rapper also discussed violence against other people, including the stabbing of a former manager for which he was arrested in July 2016, according to Pitchfork.
In his Guardian column, Suarez addressed the difficultly of admiring an artist who “positively influences the lives of many,” while allegedly causing serious harm to others. Suarez said XXXTentacion also was responsible for the online harassment and abuse Ayala endured after her allegations became public because he was unwilling to admit how he had hurt her.
“There is no question that (XXXTentacion) suffered in his 20 years on this planet, that he dealt daily with issues of mental health, that he was failed in some of the systematic ways America fails so many youths of color,” Suarez wrote. “Those who mourn him have reason to do so.”
But Suarez also wrote: “No amount of talent or recognition of talent can change that or diminish how his self-serving denials put (his ex-girlfriend) in further harm’s way,” Suarez wrote, calling the violence perpetrated against Ayala the musician’s “true legacy.”