Ok, so I think it's about time to revive this series, and oh what a post this should be.

As you can tell from the title, today I'm going to be writing about XXXTentacion, one of the most interesting and controversial young musical artists of the last five years (or more, I can't remember). I'm going to try and keep this post about the music, but sometimes you just have to talk about the things going on behind the music. If you are interested in the story behind the artist I'll leave links to some sources at the end of the post.

I don't know if this even counts as being "underground", because the dude is pretty big right now. But, whatever, I'm still counting it because even if he is popular his music still has a pretty underground vibe to it, so, yeah.

Anyway, that's the introduction done, now let's get on with the show.

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I'm not sure where to start this post. Well, as the King of Hearts said in Alice in Wonderland, "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop." Easier said than done sometimes.

In 2014, XXXTentacion was in a juvenile detention center in Florida for gun possession charges. While incarcerated he met fellow rapper Ski Mask the Slump God, the two spent much of their time together freestyling. After being released the two had planned to meet up with the intention of robbing houses. But, at some point, XXXTentacion might have had a change of heart as he bought a microphone to start making music, and he convinced Ski Mask to join him.

And at some point after this the first official XXXTentacion song was uploaded to Soundcloud:

[XXXTentacion - Vice City]

Considering this is one of his earliest tracks, written/recorded when he was about 15 or 16, you really can't fault this song. I believe the beat was originally produced by Canis Major and it features a fantastic sample of Laura Mvula's Sing to the Moon. And here is a link to the Canis Major beat on Youtube, because apparently there is a bit of controversy over XXXTentacion's use of the beat which is covered in the comments section. But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Both lyrically and stylistically this track is an example of things to come, especially when we reach some of his newer material.

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Ok, so that was one of XXXTentacion's first songs uploaded to Soundcloud, but let's skip ahead to 2015/16 and one of his first big hits. This is a track that ticks a lot of boxes for me, it's loud, bassy, distorted, angry, and just a little bit absurd.

[XXXTentacion - Look at Me]

This was definitely one of the tracks that first piqued my interest in XXXTentaction, I definitely gravitated towards tracks like this when I first started listening to his music. What I really enjoy about this track (and others like it), is that lo-fi, puck aesthetic. This song was re-released on the Revenge EP in 2017, and XXXTentacion also made an interesting music video featuring both this track and another one called Riot.

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I'm just gonna take a minute right now to say how much I appreciate how this new wave of young rappers are wearing their rock/punk/metal/and other influences on their sleeves (sometimes literally). I often fall out of love with rap/hip hop for a couple of years because it all eventually starts sounding the same, and often ends up being produced in such a way that it sounds like something created by a committee of social engineers and psychologists to appeal to the widest number of people while influencing them to fall in line with a certain social narrative. But the same could be said about many genres of music.

Anyway, that's why I appreciate tracks like this...

[XXXTentacion - Willy Wonka was a Child Murderer]

The track opens with a dark, brooding piano and then the guitar comes in with those long, eerie high notes before the drums slowly fade in and the track shifts into a metal song with XXXTentacion screaming repetitive lyrics on top. This isn't an amazing song, but I do really enjoy it because of the energy it gives off. The track was produced by King Yosef who produced one of my absolute favorite XXXTentacion songs, which was also on the Willy Wonka was a Child Murderer EP and was later re-released on the Revenge EP, which we'll be coming to soon.

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Right, so, where were we? I mean, this dude has a pretty large catalog of music with a lot of variance in style, and I enjoy quite a bit of it that I would like to share with you. But, since time and space are fairly limited, I'm going to jump to some more recent material.

But first, here is something the deserves attention:

In mid 2016 XXXTentacion was charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, he posted bail and returned to making music. He was working on an album at the time which was supposed to be released in October of that year. And this is where shit gets real. In October of 2016, instead of releasing an album, XXXTentacion is arrested on charges of false imprisonment, witness tampering, and aggravated battery of a pregnant victim.

That's just... not cool. I mean... just... fuck... It really changes your opinion of a guy when you find out shit like that. Now, I know a person should be considered innocent until proven guilty, but the evidence in this case seems pretty damning.

Anyway, I'm a believer in the idea that art transcends the artist, so let's get back to the music. In 2017, after getting out of prison, XXXTentacion releases an EP titled Revenge which features Look at Me and other previously released songs. And this first track I'm going to share with you from Revenge is one of my favorites.

[XXXTentacion - King]

This is the track I mentioned earlier that was first released on the Willy Wonka was a Child Murderer EP, and you can really hear the similarities between this and the title track from that EP. it starts off nice and mild before shifting into a much heavier sound. This is one of the best XXXTentacion tracks in my opinion, it just does it for me, you know? Hats off to both XXXTentacion and King Yosef for making something I can really get into.

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There's two more tracks I'm going to share with you from Revenge before we move on to the next level. This first one sounds like something resembling a traditional rap track, I don't know how to really define that particular sound but hopefully you'll get what I mean when you listen to it.

[XXXTentacion - Slipknot (feat. Kin$oul and Killstation)]

This is a nice track that is just so easy to listen to. I really don't have much more to say about this one, I just enjoy that more laid back style, and wanted to share it in the interest of showing off the many styles of XXXTentacion.

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Ok, last track from Revenge. Remember near the start of this post when I mentioned that while in the juvenile detention center XXXTentacion and another rapper named Ski Mask the Slump God would freestyle together and decided to make music together after they were released? Well, this next song is one of the many tracks the two have worked together on.

[XXXTentacion - RIP Roach (feat. Ski Mast the Slump God)]

This is another one of those hard hitting, bass heavy, high energy tracks that I really vibe with.

In the interest of trying to finish off this post sometime this month I'm just going to move on.

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Alright, it's finally time to talk about 17, XXXTentacion's debut album, which reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 in the US. I'll be honest here, I don't really know what that means, I have no concept of what it takes to reach number 2 on the Billboard 200. Charts aren't really my thing.

I think it's safe to say that 17 was a bit of a surprise stylistically compared to much of what XXXTentacion had previously released.

Instead of me trying (and failing) to write something that sufficiently introduces the album I'm going to let the artist himself introduce it in his own words.

I could easily share almost every song on this album but I'm going to try really hard not to. Instead, I'm just going to implore you to give the album a chance, if you haven't already. Just set aside 25 minutes of your day today, sit down, relax, and give the whole album a proper listen, and if you don't feel it, well, I guess I owe you your 25 minutes back.

Ok, I'm just going to post these tracks in the order they appear on the album.

[XXXTentacion - Jocelyn Flores]

Remember when I said earlier that the track Vice City would be an example of things to come? Well this is sort of what I meant. There are a lot of similarities between that track and some of the tracks on 17. There has been a lot of artistic growth since Vice City, but many of the same elements still remain.

This track really sets the mood for the rest of the album.

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Next up is the second song/third track from the album, and even more so than before it really is a departure from everything leading up to this point.

[XXXTentacion - Depression & Obsession]

This track is nothing but vocals and acoustic guitar and it's fantastic. But vocals and sparse instrumentation is my jam, so I would say it's fantastic.

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Ok, we're nearly done here. I'm going to share just two more tracks and then it's time to wrap things up. This next one was the first single to be released off the album and was originally titled Garette's Revenge. It's another wonderful combo of acoustic guitar and vocals, with some bass added for good measure.

[XXXTentacion - Revenge]

This might actually be my favorite song on the album, although if you were to ask me again tomorrow I might say my favorite is Carry On, or maybe I'll be really feeling Everybody Dies in Their Nightmares that day, or I might think... well, you get the idea.

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There are so many tracks I want to share here but I think I'm going to leave you with this one:

[XXXTentacion - Save Me]

I really love the piano on this track, it's just so brooding and languid, it really adds to the somber lyrics. I'd like to hear a version of this song with just XXXTentacion and the piano, because I reckon the piano could carry this song without the rest of the instrumentation.

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Ok, now that I'm done sharing the music and imploring you to listen to 17, it's time to talk about some of the negatives I perceive with the album. I don't have many complaints and they're pretty minor but I think they're worth mentioning.

Now, obviously, my first complaint is going to be the same as most people's, and that is that it's just such a short album, it's just shy of 22 minutes with the longest track clocking in at 2:46. But, to be fair, XXXTentacion isn't known for making long songs so I guess it's to be expected.

My next problem is that I find the second half of the album just doesn't hold up compared to the first half. It still has some great songs like Carry On, and I'm somewhat partial to Dead Inside, but the rest of the tracks sound like 16 year old white girl music, and despite rumours to the contrary, I'm not a 16 year old white girl, well, not anymore at least. The vibe I get from these songs is especially prevalent on the last two tracks, there's just something about the tone of the piano and the chords being used on those songs that rubs me the wrong way, I don't know, maybe it's tapping in to some long repressed memories.

And that brings me to my last complaint, and probably the one that annoys me the most. There is one featured artist on this whole album and it's some chap named Trippie Red, he's featured on the track Fuck Love, and he completely ruins the song for me. There's just something about his style and his sound that I find incredibly grating and annoying, and this is coming from somebody who can easily sit and listen to something like Merzbow, or The Body, or Gnaw Their Tongues for hours, so it's rare I come across something I find grating. Whatever it is about this guy, I just don't know, and it's a shame too because the beat starts out sounding so promising. I might not like the last to tracks on the album, but at least I can still listen to them, whereas I almost always have to skip Fuck Love, and I blame Trippie Red.

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Ok, that's it. I think I'm done with this post, finally. I'm not going to lie, this post took me a few days to write up, mainly due to a complete lack of motivation and will, and I'm very happy to be wrapping this shit up so I can move on to something new. I may have only mentioned him twice in this giant mess of a post but I quite enjoy Ski Mask the Slump God and might do a Music from the Underground post about him in the future, but I think I might take a break from rap and hip hop and write about some artist from a completely different world of music for the next installment of this series. Oh, And I definitely won't leave it as long between posts next time.

Man, if anyone has managed to read this whole rambling mess of a post and listened to all the tracks I shared and whatever, they deserve a cup of hot chocolate, a cookie, and a medal of some description. But, if that's you and you've made it to this point, thank you. And I really mean that. Thank you. And if you haven't read the whole thing, if you didn't manage to make it through, well, thanks for trying anyway.

Anyway, peace out, love yourselves and each other, and take it easy (and if it comes easy, take it twice). And as always, if you'd like to discuss Mr XXXTentacion and his music just leave a comment below.

Oh, one last thing before I go. This was posted to XXXTentacion's youtube channel the morning of the night I spent writing the bulk of this article, so I thought I'd share it here.

[MY HEART AND YOURS VLOG 1]

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Further Reading:

I promised some links to information about XXXTentacion's story so here they are.

No Jumper interview with XXXTentacion on youtube. - You should give this a watch.

Vulture article detailing a timeline of his career and the charges against him.

Elevator interview with XXXTentacion and Ski Mask the Slump God on youtube.

Pitchfork article detailing the victim's testimony - This shit is dark. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I've tried to find some relatively objective sources dealing with the accusations against XXXTentacion because, even though he might be a scumbag, he's still innocent until proven guilty. Except, it seems the court of public opinion has already convicted him, because almost every article I can find regarding this case is written under the assumption of guilt as opposed to the presumption of innocence. Where I'm from articles of that nature are very risky business due to defamation laws. But then, most online publications, especially ones coming out of America, read like opinion pieces as opposed to, you know, actual journalism, but that's a topic for another day, it's just something I find interesting.

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Previous Installments:

Music from the Underground #1 – Gaika
Music from the Underground #2 – Crywank
Music from the Underground #3 – Various Artists
Music from the Underground #4 – Admiral Angry
Music from the Underground #5 – Benjamin Clementine
Music from the Underground #6 – Denzel Curry