XXXTentacion: Not your average Soundcloud rapper

Alright, let's be honest. Clichés are overused, but if you seriously don't know who XXXTentacion is yet, you've definitely been living under the proverbial rock.

Through curiosity or through culture, you've probably seen clips of him, or at least heard the name, in the past year.

X, as he is commonly known, took 2017 by storm. He's an internet sensation, whether it be through his music, his extravagant persona, his spat with the law or the video of him getting knocked out cold by a stage invader at one of his performances, last June.

Despite all the controversy, and the fact that he's got a tree tattooed on the middle of his forehead, X is generally quite a normal guy. He's just got a weird name.

Born in Florida in 1998, Jahseh Onfroy was brought up by a young mother and passed between carers as a young child. He was involved with the law from a young age, and met fellow rapper and ex-best friend Ski Mask the Slump God (who's two years older, pictured below) at a youth detention centre, where he got sent for gun possession charges at the age of just 16.

Now, he's a musician. A rapper, in fact. He started making music at a young age and found fame through recognition on SoundCloud, like many of his peers in the digital age (Lil Pump, Post Malone, Lil Peep, Ski Mask). One of his biggest hits, and probably your starting block for finding out what he's all about, 'Look At Me!', was released on Soundcloud at the end of 2015, when he was still 17.



What does his name mean?
A musician's name is like the blurb of the book. It's the only thing you've got to go on before you hit up Spotify and decide whether to waste your time and click play. Unless you fall upon it via the radio or your mates, the name is the one thing you're going to base your decision on. Unfortunately, we're human, and it's built into us to be judgmental. And the name XXXTentacion is much like that blurb of a book that makes you put it back on the shelf and question why you're not in the DVD section.

Despite the fact it sounds more like a 13-year-old's Xbox gamertag, there's a meaning behind it. By his own words, 'X' is the unknown numeral in maths, and 'Tentacion' (pronounced TEN-TASSY-ON) is Spanish for 'temptation'. So it means 'unknown temptation', apparently. It's just an absolute task to say it every time you talk about him.

Why does he look weird?
Facial tattoos, odd hairstyles and generally making yourself look as much like a trainwreck as possible has become something of a commitment for most new hip-hop artists. Everyone's jumping on the trend, despite the fact that they can't remove the tats. Oh well. Live in the moment and all that.

X changes his look all the time. He used to have a half-blonde, half-natural afro-dread birds-nest look, but has changed it over time to more of a pineapple-esque look. Then there was the time he dyed it grey and let it flow. He did shave his eyebrows off at one point as well. But he's been through it. We'll get to that.

His tattoos actually mean something, thankfully. He's got a tattoo that says 'alone' on the left side of his face. He's got an elephant on his neck, and the red tattoo under his eye that looks like a birth mark says 'numb'. It's deep.

Isn't he just the same as the rest of them?

No. Dare say that to a hardcore X fan and you risk getting lynched. While Lil Pump and the rest of his cronies somehow find solace and lots of money in rapping about drugs and jewellery, X puts his life and soul into his words, and also dabbles in multiple genres and experiments with beats from rock, metal, old-school hip-hop and more.

'Look At Me!' is an example of how he can lower himself to their standards, but in his defence, that song seems to stem more from anger than from greed. You've got to delve deeper. His most streamed track on Spotify is in fact no longer 'Look At Me!', but 'Jocelyn Flores' off his debut LP '17', released in August last year. It's a poignant tale of a friend who committed suicide, and reflects the overall melancholy vibe of the 11-track album.

Most of his songs have an underlying deep meaning. It's just they're not the ones that are initially going to get listened to.

Is he in jail?

Yeah, but no. He's currently on house arrest (i.e. he's not in prison, he's at his own house, but is probably on a tag) after he was taken into custody (i.e. jailed) in mid-December, for his latest offence.

He's been in a rut with the judicial system since he was initially sent to prison in early 2017, for violence against his (now-ex) girlfriend. It's a long story, but she's since dropped the charges (saying she wanted her 'best friend' to be free), and he denies most of it, including the charges of false imprisonment, witness tampering and aggravated battery. In more simple terms, he allegedly held his ex-girlfriend hostage, tried to bribe her so he didn't get into trouble, and beat her up.

The whole story, including all the court dates, trials, extra charges for violating his bond, postponements, plea changes, claims that the judicial system are out to get him, charge drops, sentence reductions and judge no-shows, is too long for one article. But it can all be found on the internet, not least on his Instagram page - where, despite not having a single post, he updates his fans daily with snippets of his life.

X and his loyal fanbase will retain the notion that he is a nice guy. And his music's great. But while he comes across as a well-spoken guy who could turn his life around, and doesn't appear to be a gangster, X has history.

You can see a video of him punching a fan at a concert. He's been arrested for robbery before, with a deadly weapon. He's admitted to him and Ski Mask's plans to 'rob sh*t' after they got out of prison. He's brawled with fans on other occasions too, like when he was filmed bashing a fan with a microphone. His video for 'Look At Me!' depicts a black boy hanging a white boy, and includes disturbing content of racially-aggravated shootings in the U.S.A. He had a fight with Migos in the street, and has had a feud with Drake over his claims the Canadian stole his flow. In summary, he doesn't do much to help his own reputation, never mind his trial. Despite only being 19, he's probably the music world's most controversial figure.

The good thing is, his reputation and hectic lifestyle hasn't got in the way of the fact that he's still made some great music.

How famous is he?
Despite the fact half the world may still be at a loss to who this is, X's meteoric rise from the underground to the mainstream has been nothing short of astonishing.

He's got 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify, making him the 136th most listened to artist in the world. Half of his songs aren't even on Spotify, but those that only make it onto YouTube, or SoundCloud, his original platform, garner millions of views. Most of his songs have at least ten million plays on the video-streaming site, and most of his '17' album is bordering on 100 million streams on Spotify. He has 5.7 million followers on Instagram, despite not having a single post on the site. That's a lot.

What's his music like?

As well as being a unique person, X is also a unique artist.

In contrast to just about all of his peers, he is a well-spoken, intelligent man with a large vocabulary and, from watching his interviews, you can tell he's very thoughtful and wise beyond his years.

It's not just that though. His intelligence corresponds to his music, which is ultimately what he's about. There's so many things that make him different to every other artist in the business right now - and while some may find it weird, for many people, that's the attraction.

The first thing is his frequency of release. X announced on Instagram late last year that he'd 'given up making music' and was never going to release anything ever again. Surprisingly enough though, he went back on that promise. A lot of it gets swept under the rug, but X released absolutely loads in 2017. While to some it may seem like a negative choice of quantity over quality, for the most part it's good stuff. There's some that he knows is great, others that aren't as up to scratch, but there'll usually be a hidden gem in there - one that no-one expects to blow up, but does.

This year brought the Revenge EP first, then a 'Members Only' album with Ski Mask the Slump God and other collaborators - which contains 23 songs. Next was '17', and then there was a full LP collab with 21 Savage, and finally the 'Ghetto Christmas Carol' EP at the end of the year. He's also released multiple other stand-alone singles and featured on other artists work over the year, as well as his SoundCloud only songs which add to his seemingly infinite repertoire. Trawl the internet and there seems to be literally no limit to his music, with the recommendations on YouTube seemingly to play along like items on a conveyor belt. You'll think you've heard it all - then you'll find another one.

The second thing is his unique production style. While not specifically his work, it's directed by him and is raw and lo-fi, something most rappers don't do these days. It's minimalistic and serves to make you appreciate the meaning in his lyrics more.

Thirdly there's his versatility. As mentioned, his genre-bouncing music defies what is usual in the music industry, never mind in rap music. Despite being a 'rapper', some of his music doesn't contain any rapping at all. 'I Don't Wanna Do This Anymore', released on Revenge, is a slow, heart-wrenching, atmospheric love song. No rapping. In fact, X, while other rappers would shy away, embraces the art of melody and sings in his songs. But his fans still love it. And when he does rap, he raps to everything. To guitars, to piano, to steel drums. The fact is, his music is a mixture of absolutely everything, which makes it, on the most part, indescribable.

Fourthly, there's the length of his songs. Probably a reason as to why he has the ability to put out as much content as he does, his tracks average out at around the two minute mark, with a lot of his releases containing just one verse between two choruses (as is the current trend). Contrary to the disdain of many followers who belittle him for not 'finishing his songs', the trick simply leaves you wanting more, and makes you play the song again.

And finally there's the meaning behind his songs. X makes no secret of the fact he's been heartbroken, he's been depressed and he's pretty much felt every emotion on the planet. And you can feel it in his music. While he can do what every other gloating, self-indulgent rapper can do (and has), a lot of it is completely different to everything else you hear.

So if you're still not convinced, here's five songs you should listen to for just the smallest fraction of a glimpse as to what this guy can do - and will do more of in the future. If X can spare himself jail, clean up his act and continue to make the music his fans love, he may well go down in rap music history and pioneer a generation. In fact, he's already part way there.


LOOK AT ME
Album: None

LOOKING FOR A STAR

Album: Revenge

EVERYBODY DIES IN THEIR NIGHTMARES
Album: 17

VICE CITY

Album: None

RIOT
Album: None