By Liz Hammond, Digital Media Editor
The music industry has changed drastically from the days of rockstars in the ‘60s. There are no more genres or pressure to join a music label. We live in the world of SoundCloud rap, where one hit song can change an artist’s life forever.
XXXTentacion is no stranger to this concept. Although it may seem easy to put X in the same category as Playboi Carti, he stands alone from his fellow peers.
When this year’s “XXL Freshman” cypher came out, X replaced his high-energy demeanor for a much more sinister one. When it came time for his verse, he crouched down on the floor and rapped in a completely monotone voice about killing everyone if an apocalypse came. If there were any doubts about how off X was, there wasn’t after that point.
When X was reaching peak popularity from his biggest hit, “Look At Me!”, he was sitting in a county jail serving time for violating house arrest. But, the more recent charges against X are the ones coming from his ex-girl- friend, detailed in a disturbing report from the victim about how X abused her, even through her pregnancy. Somehow X still has his cult fan base that have repeatedly said “innocent until proven guilty.” Then there are those that have boycotted his music entirely: who can blame them?
It’s hard to imagine that his cult fan base expected his new album, “17,” to sound the way it did. Listening to “Look At Me!” and then listening to “Jocelyn Flores,” it doesn’t even seem like they’d be by the same person.
His album starts with “An Explanation,” where the track is just X talking to you, person- to-person, explaining what this album means to him. He says: “I do not value your money, I value your acceptance and loyalty/ Here is my pain and thoughts put into words/I put my all into this/ In hopes that it will help cure or at least numb your depression.”
Right away, you know that this album won’t be anything to get hype to and not think about. It goes right into the song, “Jocelyn Flores,” which is the most popular song on the album and has spent a lot of time at the top of the charts. It’ s X half-singing and half-rapping, which makes it even more haunting. The main thing to notice is how much more his lyrics have evolved since his first hit. It’s dedicated to a friend of X who killed herself in a hotel room. He sings, “I’ll be feeling pain, I’ll be feeling pain just to hold on.” It’s hard to ignore the hurt in his voice as you listen.
Then “Depression & Ob- session” comes on and if you weren’t sad before then you will be after this song. X just drones on: “Depression and obsession doesn’t mix well/I’m poisoned and my body doesn’t feel well.” It’s just pure feeling, which seems to be the theme across the whole album.
It picks back up when “Everybody Dies in Their Night- mares” comes on. X is back to his fast-paced rap, but the subject doesn’t get any lighter. The scariest line has to be: “I don’t really go outside ‘cause I hate traffic/I don’t wanna go outside, get caught in traffic;” it’s hard to tell if he’s saying that he doesn’t want to get caught in traffic, or that he’ll be so tempted to do so.
“Revenge” is like an acoustic take on rap music. The lyrics are clearly about his ex- girlfriend that he abused and this song gives an inside look into what X was feeling about the whole thing.
Of all the R&B songs on this album, “F**k Love,” which at one point was the most played song on SoundCloud, has the most emotion. The beat of the song is one that you’d want to dance to but can’t: this whole album forces you to sit down in a quiet head space and think.
X seems to be the most problematic rapper in the game right now: while most people don’t like this, in the rap industry this is normal for an upcoming artist. He does need to fess up to actions, but I feel like a lot of the lyrics in this album are him alluding to the fact that he made a mistake. This also bring the question of what we can expect from him now on. Will it be this same pain and depression or will it be more trap beats like in “Look At Me!”? Only time will tell: even if you think that he doesn’t deserve it, this album will give you a new look into who XXXTentacion is.
