Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy (born January 23, 1998), known professionally as XXXTentacion (; stylized as XXXTENTACION and xxxtentacion), and often referred to as X, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter.
Born and raised in Plantation, Florida, Onfroy spent most of his childhood in Lauderhill, Florida. He began writing music after being released from a youth correction center and eventually released his first song on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud in 2014. He is a popular figure in "SoundCloud rap", a trap scene that takes elements of lo-fi music and harsh 808s.
Onfroy released his debut album, 17, on August 25, 2017. Onfroy's second album, ? was released on March 16, 2018 with it's lead single "Sad" peaking at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Early life
Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy was born on January 23, 1998 in Plantation, Florida to Jamaican Dwayne Onfroy and American Cleopatra Freeman. Onfroy was mainly raised by his grandmother -- due to his mother's financial situation -- in Pompano Beach, Florida and Lauderhill, Florida. He is of Egyptian, Indian, German, Jamaican and Italian descent. When Onfroy was six years old, he stabbed a man attempting to attack his mother and was eventually put into a youth program before being forced to live with his grandmother.
Onfroy's interest in music initially started after his aunt persuaded him to begin attending school choir and later church choir. He was soon kicked out of the school choir, after attacking another student. Onfroy was later expelled from middle school after a series of physical altercations. He was subsequently enrolled into Sheridan House Family Ministries by his mother for over six months. Onfroy began to listen to nu-metal, hard rock and rap during his time at Sheridan House Family Ministries, which led to him attempting to learn the piano and guitar.
Onfroy attended Piper High School until he dropped out in the tenth grade. He described himself as a "misfit" during that time, citing how quiet he was despite being popular and regularly involved in physical confrontations. Onfroy wasn't the athletic type and has said he was insecure and depressed during his time in high school.
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Career
2014-16: Career beginnings and success with "Look at Me"
Onfroy's career as a music artist began in 2014 after he spent a year in a juvenile detention center for gun possession charges. Whilst in juvenile detention, Onfroy met Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne, another artist known as Ski Mask The Slump God. During their time together, Onfroy and Goulbourne became good friends and began freestyling. Recalling his time in detention, Onfroy said that he was respectful to the officers and staff and used to protect people from other inmates, including a homosexual cellmate, whom Onfroy later beat for being "suspicious".
That same year, following his release from a juvenile detention center, Onfroy and Goulbourne met up again under the belief they were going to commit a string of home invasions for monetary gain though Onfroy eventually bought a Blue Snowball microphone and began recording music which convinced Stokeley to do the same. After Onfroy adopted a moniker XXXTentacion, he uploaded his first official song, called Vice City on SoundCloud. Speaking on his decision to abandon the life of criminality for music, Onfroy said that he felt like music was a better outlet for his feelings and then-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala was someone who helped him realize that. He would then continue uploading a small snippets of his songs that would either soon release or remain unreleased. Onfroy eventually joined fellow Southern Florida rapper and close friend Ski Mask The Slump God's group Very Rare, before breaking off and starting the Members Only collective, which Ski Mask joined.
Onfroy released his first official extended play (EP), called The Fall on November 21, 2014. Onfroy released one collaboration album with Ski Mask the Slump God, called Members Only Vol. 1 before releasing Members Only Vol. 2, in 2015 with several members of the growing Members Only collective. In 2016, he released the EP Willy Wonka Was a Child Murderer, with music heavily inspired by heavy metal and indie music. In 2016, Onfroy quit his job as a call center operator due to his then growing music career and moved in with rapper Denzel Curry.
In July 2016, Onfroy was arrested and charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. After posting $10,000 bail, Onfroy continued to work on his debut independent album, Bad Vibes Forever which had a slated October 31, 2016 release date. The album missed the release date and was delayed due to Onfroy being arrested in early October on charges of false imprisonment, witness tampering, and aggravated battery of a pregnant victim.
2017: Release from prison, Revenge, 17 and A Ghetto Christmas Carol
In 2017, Onfroy re-released his song, "Look at Me". The song peaked at number 34 on US Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 40 of the Canadian Hot 100. The single helped him gain more popularity due to accusations of Canadian rapper Drake using a similar rap flow in his then unreleased song, "KMT" that he previewed at a concert in Amsterdam with feature guest appearance from a British rapper Giggs.
On April 18, 2017, after his release from prison, he released three more songs on SoundCloud. In an interview with WMIB, Onfroy announced that he was working on the studio albums Bad Vibes and 17; as well as mixtape, I Need Jesus. In an interview three days after his release from prison, X said to XXL, saying "I got this really really, really good album called 17. That's more of an alternative, R&B sound -- Then I've got this mixtape called I Need Jesus, which is mainly rap and the underground sound I did."
Onfroy announced his first nationwide tour on April 28, 2017. The tour, titled "The Revenge Tour" had 26 tour dates overall and was widely publicized due to numerous controversies which included a rapper being assaulted, Onfroy was being involved in an altercation on stage that led to him being knocked unconscious and an audience member stabbed, Onfroy being thrown into a barricade by security and Onfroy punching a fan. He announced the cancellation of the rest of the tour dates due to his cousin being shot on June 24, 2017 though the final tour date in Broward County, Florida still went ahead and was later streamed on the watchthemusic (WAV) app.
Onfroy was named as the tenth pick on XXL's "2017 Freshman Class" after being voted in. In his XXL freestyle (which is regularly done by freshmen where a rapper will rhyme a cappella), it was speculated that he verbally insulted a fellow American rapper J. Cole, though later Cole endorsed the rappers music, calling him "talented."
On May 16, 2017, Onfroy released his major-label debut commercial project, called Revenge. The mixtape consists of eight previously released songs. The collaborative mixtape, Members Only, Vol. 3, with Members Only, was released on June 26, 2017.
Onfroy announced that he will be taking a small break from social media on July 20, 2017 until he came back two weeks later to announce the release date for his upcoming debut album, called 17. Rapper DRAM brought Onfroy out at a concert in the Staples Centre during Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. Tour, being the first time that Onfroy performed at the arena and the first time he was brought out as an opening act by a mainstream artist. This was following Lamar's comments about rappers using ghostwriters for song lyrics which may have been directed at Drake, whom Onfroy was in a rap feud with earlier that year.
On August 25, 2017, he released his major-label debut album, 17. The album debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, selling 86,000 album-equivalent units first week. The album received a positive response from critics, some of which lauded the album for its personal narratives and diverse musical style. On September 3, 2017, Onfroy announced that Bad Vibes Forever, his second album, is still in production. 17 gave Onfroy's seven songs -- "Jocelyn Flores", "Revenge", "Fuck Love", "Everybody Dies in Their Nightmares", "Depression & Obsession", "Save Me" and "Carry On" -- that debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 at number 31, 77, 41, 54, 91, 94 and 95, respectively with "Jocelyn Flores" becoming XXXTentacion's highest charting song since "Look At Me" that peaked it at 34. Onfroy then received his ninth song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, after featured on Kodak Black's song, "Roll in Peace" taken from Project Baby 2. The song debuted at 52, and peaked at 31.
On September 12, 2017, Onfroy released his first official music video for his 2016 song "Look at Me!"; as well as sharing a music video with his 2015 song "Riot". The song generated controversy hours after being posted due to the video depicting a white child being hanged by Onfroy, as another black child observed. Onfroy's label, Bad Vibes Forever, signed a distribution deal with Capitol Music Group subsidiary Caroline on October 19, 2017. The deal, reportedly worth 6 million dollars, is for one album only. Shortly afterwards on October 25, 2017, Onfroy announced he was terminating his contract with Caroline despite a representative confirming he was still signed. Two days later, he announced that he will be retiring due to negativity and backlash though some publications noted that Onfroy has made similar pleas before and not followed through. On October 30, 2017, Onfroy announced that he will make music again if fellow Broward rapper and "former best friend", Ski Mask the Slump God was his friend again. Later, Onfroy answered a fan's question on Instagram live about his retirement, saying, "Am I quitting? Yes, I'm quitting -- I don't know for how long, but I'm just not going to make music right now."
Onfroy previewed new music on November 2, 2017, signalling a return to making music. Onfroy announced a new album titled Bad Vibes Forever on November 17, 2017, speaking on the album, Onfroy said "It will be a mix of genres you have seen me dabble with, if you are not a fan of me this is not an album for you, it is for core fans only". The album title shares its name with his label. On December 11, 2017, Onfroy released the A Ghetto Christmas Carol EP on Soundcloud. A day before his hearing for witness tampering charges, Onfroy announced that he was preparing three albums to be ready for 2018 and after being released on house arrest, he announced the titles of all three albums, Skins, Bad Vibes Forever and ?.
2018: YouTube channel and ?
Onfroy began to use his long-time YouTube channel "xxxtentacion", previously used to upload music, to upload gaming videos and vlogs. The channel has 2.4 million subscribers as of February 2018. On January 22, 2018, Onfroy announced on Instagram that and New York rapper, Joey Badass had been creating a project together and the two dropped a freestyle to the song "King's Dead" on SoundCloud on March 9, 2018 in preparation for the collab project. The "xxxtentacion" YouTube channel uploaded the video "#THEHELPINGHANDCHALLENGE" on the same day. The video included Onfroy donating musical instruments, video game consoles, and other gifts to a foster home. Shortly afterwards, Onfroy declared his album had finished and he was preparing to release it but would only do so after the hashtag, #HELPINGHANDCHALLENGE reached one million mentions on Instagram.
On February 2, 2018, Onfroy released his first single of 2018 titled "Shining Like The Northstar." He was also featured on long-time collaborator and producer, Ronny J's track, "Banded Up." Onfroy released the song "Hope" on his SoundCloud account on February 21, 2018, dedicated to the victims of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Onfroy announced that he was releasing two songs at midnight on March 2, 2018, both the first singles for his upcoming album ?. The lead single for ? "Sad!" was released several hours alongside "Changes" which features fellow 2017 XXL Freshman PnB Rock. "Sad!" debuted at number 17 becoming his highest charting song in the United States.
Onfroy announced the release date for his sophomore album, ?, on March 12, 2018. He shared the 18 track track-list with features from Joey Bada$$, Travis Barker and PnB Rock. ? was released on March 16, 2018.
Musical style
Onfroy's influences are Kurt Cobain, Tupac Shakur, Cage the Elephant, The Fray, Papa Roach, Three Days Grace, Gorillaz and Coldplay. When speaking on his influences, X said, "I'm really into multi-genre things that aren't just based around rapping itself. I'm more inspired by artists in other genres besides rap." Onfroy as an artist has been defined as versatile and his music has been described as having a "lo-fi" aesthetic, being diverse and experimental, drawing influence from heavy metal. His music also has the tendency to contain distorted bass and an "intentional lack of polish". Speaking about this, Onfroy has said that the intentionally bad mixing on his tracks make it "genuine". Some fans have also noted that his music has inspired many up and coming artists, such as Craig Xen, Lil Pump, Trippie Redd, Karami, and Smokepurpp into channeling similar vibes into their music.
Onfroy generally changes his vocal style depending on the type of song he is performing on. His vocal style as has been described as displaying "emotional vulnerability" on much more depressing tracks and as replicating screaming on much more aggressive tracks. His song writing has been described as outlandish and shocking, often referring to "violence, sex and drugs" though on some projects such as The Fall and 17, Onfroy's songwriting is more emotional in comparison to his previous work, often referring to loneliness, depression, isolation, and anxiety.
Controversies and public image
Onfroy is generally considered a controversial figure within the hip-hop industry due to assaulting fans, public feuds with other artists and general social media scandals. Spin has labelled him as "rap's most controversial man" and XXL labelled Onfroy as their most "controversial freshman ever".
On August 24, 2017, a day before the release of his debut album, 17, Onfroy uploaded a video to the social media platform Instagram of him depicting the act of suicide by hanging. Though he later uploaded a video onto Instagram showcasing the video being shot in part of a music video.
On September 12, 2017, Onfroy uploaded a music video to YouTube for his song "Riot" after sharing a music video for his. The controversial scene portrays him placing a noose around the neck of a white child then hanging him (representing lynching.) The child's mother originally was anxious about the scene but said she was fine with the message being portrayed. Talking on Instagram live, he told his followers that the video wasn't supporting Black Lives Matter or addressing police brutality but was supporting All Lives Matter.
Onfroy announced he was retiring from producing music on October 27, 2017. Onfroy then stated using the Instagram story feature that he would make music again if South Floridan rapper, frequent collaborator and "best friend", Ski Mask the Slump God would become his friend again, telling his fans to post "Be friends with X again" on Ski Mask's social media accounts. The post led to a social media exchange between the two, with Onfroy explaining his side using the Instagram Live feature on Instagram:
"It was a lack of appreciation on his end, not because of me, I guess just from a business perspective. But he put a business perspective before a personal relationship, and I've been with him as a friend and as a brother for a very long time. I mean, it's just on some other shit to be honest. It's not on anything I've done wrong. I can't even say I've done anything to him, and I wouldn't go on the Internet and express that if I didn't care about the relationship, but you already know how it goes. They use you to where they wanna go and then part ways. And I've been used a lot if you haven't noticed."
Ski Mask replied shortly afterwards, using Instagram's story feature, "[I'll] always love that alien-looking nigga named XXX, but I have to distance myself because it's like nobody would see me as an individual rapper if I don't, on top of that, that nigga crazy as hell", Ski Mask then went on to post a much more intense version of the story, claiming that Onfroy threatened his family. On December 8, 2017, Onfroy wrote on Instagram, "don't care about what you said about me, you know who got your back, love you, forever", referring to Ski Mask The Slump God.
Following a fake rumor that Onfroy was arrested in Las Vegas, Houston rapper Ugly God tweeted "Free X" which prompted a strong response from Onfroy which featured Onfroy insulting Ugly God. Ugly God later clarified there was no feud between them.
On November 14, Onfroy posted on his Instagram story accusing rap group Migos of attacking him and pointing a firearm at him.
Incidents at concerts
On March 26, 2017, following Onfroy's release from jail, he set up surprise concert that was arranged for April 7 in Miami, Florida. The show had an admission price of $5 until it was apparently filled up, however, before he arrived, a riot broke out. Police eventually escorted Onfroy out and closed the show down.
Rapper and member of Onfroy's members-only collective Wifisfuneral was assaulted at the first show in the Revenge Tour in Houston, Texas on May 31, 2017. Wifisfuneral stage-dived into the audience where several audience members proceeded to kick him and then leave the venue.
During a concert in San Diego in June 2017, a physical altercation occurred, which led to Onfroy being knocked unconscious and an audience member being stabbed, though the injury was non-life-threatening. The assailant was reported to be an associate of rapper Rob Stone, one of the individuals that was currently involved in an ongoing feud that involved Onfroy and fellow South Florida-native rapper Ski Mask the Slump God. The feud had already led to Ski Mask the Slump God being assaulted during rapper Desiigner's Outlet tour. Stone released a diss track following the attack, titled "Xxxtracredit" in which he mentions the attack in San Diego and then proceeds to tell Onfroy to "not come back to California". Later in an interview, Stone denied knowing who that assailant is. In October 2017, Stone confirmed that him and Onfroy had talked and the feud had been squashed.
On June 18, 2017, Onfroy punched an audience member during a concert at the Complex in Salt Lake City, Utah. He claimed this was in self defense, as he had requested that no one in the audience touch him, warning that he'd punch them if they did.
Onfroy was scheduled to perform at the Concord Music Hall in Chicago, Illinois on June 21, 2017. The concert was cancelled at the last minute, which led to hundreds of fans flooding the streets and nearly inciting a riot. He stated that the reason for the performance being cancelled was the venue management's decision. Four days later, his cousin was shot and he cancelled his tour.
Following the release of Onfroy's 17 album, a free concert was announced to take place at the Orpheum in Tampa, Florida on September 2, 2017. The venue only had the capacity to support 750 concertgoers, but over 3,000 people appeared to attend the concert and the venue had to cancel the concert before a safety hazard was created. This led to many fans of the artist nearly rioting in the street and the police needing to break up the crowd. Some fans later claimed online that they were teargassed by police officers following the riot.
Onfroy was involved in another brawl with a fan during California's Rolling Loud Festival on October 23, 2017. Onfroy announced on Instagram that the fight was purely self defense before any video of the altercation was uploaded.
Drake feud
On January 28, 2017, Canadian rapper Drake previewed a new track, titled "KMT". The song featured a guest appearance from a British rapper Giggs in Amsterdam. The song, following its preview, was compared by users on social media to Onfroy's breakout song "Look at Me!" due to the similar flow. Before the release of KMT, HotNewHipHop revealed that Drake followed Onfroy's account on Twitter. In an interview with XXL, Onfroy was questioned about the Drake comparisons, responding "If Drake is gonna take the flow, and I don't know if he legitimately did, but if that is the situation, at least reach out to a nigga, help a nigga out in this situation."
On March 18, 2017, Drake released the mixtape, More Life which included "KMT". Onfroy was released from jail on probation two weeks later and was subsequently interviewed by WMIB, where he called Drake a "bitch" and said that he respected Drake's influence but felt like "KMT" was disrespecting him. The following day on Twitter, Onfroy posted a picture of Drake's mother saying "she could get it". He then posted a picture of Drake's mother and a child version of Drake with Onfroy's face photoshopped over that of Drake's father, Dennis Graham. Later in an interview with DJ Semtex, Drake denied those accusations that he stole Onfroy's "flow". Drake also denied knowing him and said that he only heard about him regarding rumors circulated following the "KMT" snippet. Onfroy replied on his twitter requesting that Drake "come to Florida", after Onfroy saying that he won't "twitter rap with niggas", Onfroy then claimed on Instagram live that he could "out-rap" Drake.
Rapper Offset from the hip-hop group Migos used Instagram's livestream feature to verbally attack Onfroy further escalating the feud. Chicago rapper, 600Breezy, (who is currently in prison for violating his probation) then claimed that Drake gave him permission to enter into the feud and attack Onfroy. 600Breezy told Onfroy that he has "got a couple niggas that will knock you off in your own city". 600Breezy later went to Florida to attempt to search for him, though it was fruitless.
Following Onfroy being knocked unconscious on stage in San Diego, Drake liked a post on Instagram ridiculing him.
Onfroy's twitter account posted explicit photos of Drake on February 25, 2018. Onfroy's instagram account also posted "IF ANYONE TRIES TO KILL ME IT WAS [Drake] IM SNITCHING [right now]." He later claimed the account was hacked in a YouTube video titled "UPDATE, JUST CHECKING IN (VLOG)." Onfroy traded insults with former collaborator Trippie Redd on social media following reports Trippie Redd worked with Drake on the song "God's Plan." Trippie and Onfroy resolved their feud shortly afterwards in March 2018.
Legal issues
In 2014, Onfroy was sent to a youth detention center for a year on gun possession charges. According to him, during his time in detention, the district attorney was attempting to try the artist as an adult for gun possession charges which, according to him, would have had a sentence of 5-10 years in prison.
In July 2016, he was arrested and charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. According to the arrest report, Onfroy entered the home of Che Thomas with three other people, armed with a firearm. After pistol-whipping Thomas three times, Onfroy escaped the home with an iPad, iPhone, Sony PSP and $20. Onfroy was arrested in Orlando originally until he was transferred to Orange County.
After posting the bail of $10,000 in early October of the same year, while awaiting trial, the rapper was arrested again later that month on charges of false imprisonment, witness tampering, and aggravated battery of a pregnant victim. On March 26, 2017, Onfroy was released from jail on bail for his probation of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon started on March 27, 2017 and will last until March 26, 2023. His trial for aggravated battery of a pregnant victim was originally going to take place in May 2017 and has since been pushed back several times, and was set to take place on October 5, 2017. On September 8, 2017, Pitchfork leaked the victim testimony of Geneva Ayala, the victim in Onfroy's aggravated battery case. The trial was then delayed again with a date of December 11, 2017 announced. Controversy rose once again following Onfroy's choice to donate $100,000 to domestic violence prevention programs and then further when Onfroy announced an event to support rape victims though it was later cancelled due to vandalism.
Onfroy's trial was delayed again after an affidavit was filed asking for the charges to be "completely dropped." The victim in the case also declined to testify in court. In reaction, the prosecution moved to split the case into two, with witness tampering charges filed against Onfroy and a new trial date announced for December 15, 2017. On December 10, 2017, Onfroy posted a message to Instagram, writing "Court date is on the 15th 9:00 am here is my court information, if I am taken into custody, I want to tell everyone I've let down I apologize, I tried my best, I really did..", he then released the information of the court hearing.
On December 14, 2017, Onfroy pleaded not guilty and was taken into pretrial custody after a motion was filed by the prosecution on the grounds of violating his bond. He is being held without bail. It was confirmed on December 20, 2017 that Onfroy was being released on house arrest. Onfroy was released from house arrest on March 21, 2018.
Personal life
Onfroy currently lives in Florida and lived with rapper Denzel Curry in the past. In February 2018, Onfroy posted on social media that he was preparing to head back into education and went onto announce in March 2018 that he was going to a community college to get his GED.
Onfroy has been very public about his battles and struggles with depression.
Discography
Studio albums
- 17 (2017)
- ? (2018)
Mixtapes
- Revenge (2017)
References
External links
- XXXTentacion on Twitter
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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