XXXTENTACION

For an artist who died tragically at the age of 20 and only recorded for a few years, rapper XXXTentaction made a remarkable impact. In a short amount of time he went from Internet phenomenon to mainstream star, somehow managing to maintain the most idiosyncratic style of any successful hip-hop artist while selling millions of records. His one-of-a-kind style incorporated underground hip-hop, indie-folk, electronics, rock, and more, and his lyrics tapped into a troubled soul that expressed itself freely. He was born Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy in Plantation, Florida on January 23, 1988, and had a difficult youth full of violence. Unfortunately, that violence surrounded him throughout his short life. He was in a juvenile detention center and headed for a life of crime when he started rapping, along with fellow inmate Stokeley Goulbourne a.k.a. Ski Mask the Slump God. After his release, he made his debut track, "Vice City," available online. Onfroy self-released his first two EP's in 2014, and the following year he put out a pair of collaborative mixtapes with his Members Only collective, which included Goulbourne. In the summer of 2016, while working on his first album, Onfroy was arrested for robbery and assault; after getting bailed out he went back to working on the record, but by the fall he was arrested once more, this time on horrific charges of physical abuse of his pregnant girlfriend. His mixtape album Revenge was released in May of 2017, making a substantial showing on the charts and producing a hit single, "Look At Me," which hit the pop Top 40 and went Platinum. After getting out of jail Onfroy embarked on a tour marred by more violence, including his assault of a fan. His first "proper" album, 17, was released in August of 2017 and hit the upper rungs of the pop and R&B charts, earning Onfroy a Gold record. The follow-up, ?, appeared in March of 2018 and became even more successful, hitting No. 1 around the world. But the cycle of violence in his life caught up with him on June 18 of that year when he was shot dead in an altercation with two men in Deerfield Beach, Florida.