Of Truth and Fame

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Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018 born in Plantation,  Florida), known professionally as XXXTentacion was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter (why was?  Because of Taylor's look what you made me do?) A controversial figure within the hip-hop industry, Onfroy has been regarded to have left behind "a huge musical footprint" due to his impact on his young fanbase and his popularity during his short career.

He began writing music after being released from a juvenile detention center and started his music career on SoundCloud in 2013, where he soon became a popular figure in SoundCloud rap, a trap scene that takes elements of lo-fi music and harsh 808s.

He released his debut album, 17, on August 25, 2017 which debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, receiving a positive response from critics, some of which lauded the album for its personal narratives and diverse musical style. On August 15, 2018, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA). Onfroy's second album, ?, was released on March 16, 2018 and it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with its singles "Sad!", "Changes" and "Moonlight" all reaching the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 7, 2018. In the week following his death, Onfroy's highest-charting single, "Sad!", went from 52nd to 1st on the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first artist to top the Hot 100 posthumously in a lead role since The Notorious B.I.G., with "Mo Money Mo Problems", in 1997. A few months after his death, he won the Best New Hip Hop Artist at the BET Hip Hop Awards and won the Favourite Album-Soul/R&B for 17 at the American Music Awards.Onfroy's third studio album, Skins, was posthumously released in December 2018.

Sadly, on June 18, 2018, Onfroy was fatally shot at the age of 20, in a robbery at a motorcycle dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The attackers fled the scene in an SUV after stealing a bag from Onfroy; four suspects were arrested and are currently awaiting trial.

Well known for his "depressing, and at times devastating" music that brought attention to mental health, Onfroy employed styles and techniques that were unconventional in hip hop during his career, such as distortion and heavy guitar-backed instrumentals drawing inspiration from third-wave emo. This influenced artists such as Lil Pump, Trippie Redd, Ski Mask the Slump God, Smokepurpp and 6ix9ine with the grungy vocals and lo-fimixing of his early career.  He was also credited with giving artists their first taste of fame and helping them with their careers through features and co-signs. Onfroy left behind what Rolling Stone called "a huge musical footprint" due to his impact on his young fanbase and his popularity during his career. Given his immense influence only to die young, the article compared his cultural impact with that of Ritchie Valens and Darby Crash.

An article in The Atlantic expressed similar criticisms, though it also noted that Onfroy "reminded young fans in particular that their hurt was valid but that it did not form the sum total of their lives" and that he "gave voice to their insecurities." Contrasting these elements of his legacy, the article acknowledged that though he spent his career encouraging young fans to recognize their greater worth, Onfroy's legacy is nonetheless characterized by the trauma he both experienced and caused. In The Washington Post, Chris Richards commented on Onfroy's complicated legacy, contrasting how he "encouraged his fans to find hope in the fog of their despair, but bragged enthusiastically about the joy he felt in brutalizing others." According to Richards, Onfroy's music "brought solace to the depressed" while validating the sort of violence he practiced and legitimized the pain of his fans while erasing the suffering of domestic violence victims. Onfroy's music serves as an example for Richards of how "a hateful song" might normalize such feelings in "hateful people," which contributes to the profound paranoia in society about the hatred that might be in the minds of others.