Sad story of a troubled genius
Amarjot Kaur
Misogyny and violence have accounted for rap music’s notoriety but with all the ‘dark’ connotations associated with the genre it addresses some poignant issues ranging between depression, loneliness, abandonment and suicide. Such was the stuff that rapper XXXTentacion rapped about. That he was murdered on June 18, and his song Sad topped the Billboard chart after his death, one would feel obliged to separate the art from the artiste; or maybe not.
While at youth correction centre, XXXTentacion aka Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy beat up his cellmate because he suspected him to be gay. A year later, he was back in jail for armed robbery and aggravated battery. Then in 2016, he was accused of abuse by his then girlfriend and faced charges which included aggravated battery of a pregnant woman and false imprisonment. With over 6.6 million followers on his YouTube channel, XXXTentacion’s Sad is the number one on Spotify, which had earlier removed XXXTentacion and R Kelly from its playlists under a new Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy.
Mic check
Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born in Plantation, Florida, Onfroy began writing music after being released from a youth correction centre and released his first song on SoundCloud in June 2013, titled News/Flock. He was a popular figure in SoundCloud rap and trap scene that takes elements of lo-fi music and harsh 808s. Onfroy released his debut album, 17, in August. Onfroy’s second album was released in March this year.
Voice of the people
The flipside
I feel, hip-hop music, rap music (especially gangsta rap music) is one of the truest and purest forms of art out there. That’s why it has its own consequences, like what happened with Tupac Shakur, and Biggie Smalls, and now XXXTentacion.
His music has inspired young minds across the globe.
Bhawsheel Saini, theatre & TV artiste
Art and the artiste
It’s really sad what happened, but you can’t separate the art from the artiste. After all, the art comes from the artiste and though he did sing about some pertinent subjects, it was all about what he had seen in his life—he was just being true to himself and his experiences. Rappers come from that line of thought, from ghettos and how life’s like on the streets.
Fabian Raphael, businessperson
Work that matters
I like the music and the lyrics, but I don’t know anything about the person who sang it. Does it matter? No. I don’t care how a person’s personal identity as long as something creative and relatable is coming from it. Sad’s got a brilliant rap—that’s all that matters!
Simranjot Makkar, businessperson
